


A Tangled Web

by MagicMeg



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Fluff, M/M, Mild Gore, Slow-Build Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 05:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4126938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicMeg/pseuds/MagicMeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Meg, a prominent member of the Rooster Teeth Crew is handed the job of seducing The Vagabond, from the rival Fake AH Crew. But Detective Free is hot on her case, aiming to take her down to stop the impending war between Rooster Teeth and Fake AH. But both Meg and Gavin’s plans go to shit as they find themselves in a tangled web of lies and love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm about 3/5 through this fic so I decided I might as well start posting chapters! I've got 18k written so far.
> 
> I love anything Fake AH so obviously I had to write some Turnfreewood - hope you enjoy!

Meg had one job and it was a pretty damn simple job at that.

“Seduce him.”

That’s what Burnie had told her. That was the key to their success, the key to taking down the Fake AH Crew and leaving them, the Rooster Teeth Crew, on top. Seduce the faceless criminal; The Vagabond. It would have been all but impossible for anyone else but Meg had a certain way with people and had built her life off of deceiving and stealing. Which was why it was unsurprising when Burns had scooped her up and set her up with a full time gig working for him. After that her infamy ascended, soon being coined with the name ‘Two-Face’ for her love of dressing up for the part (so much so that not many people knew her real face) and the way she finished every job with a pop-culture reference, more often than not from Batman or Sailor Moon.  

So she supposed she was the perfect person for this job. One faceless criminal for the other. (As they say – it takes one to know one.)

“And where do I go from there?” she had asked her boss.

He had given a shrug. “Gain his trust. Find shit out. And take him down.”

Meg raised her eyebrow. “How vague. You have that much trust in me?”

“You work best when your situation is flexible. And I always aim to give my employees the best criminal experience possible. And plus, I _need_ you at your best for this because you’ve only got one chance. You fuck this up and their guards will be up and he’ll probably kill you,” Burnie told her, his tone solemn.

“Noted.”

“So you accept the job?”

“Of course. This might just turn out to be the most fun I’ve had all year.” Then she had shot him a wink and slipped off to her tech room. Time to find The Vagabond.

She slid into her cushioned computer chair and with the tap of the mouse her screens came alive in front of her. With a few lazy clicks her bots were scanning through the internet and the media, bringing her any and all information on The Vagabond. Such as the areas he often hit, where his cars had been seen or where the Crew could be seen to be picking him up from. If worse came to worse she could hook herself up to the police radio again and follow him after a crime. It would be tiresome trying to stealthily chase him throughout the city as he avoided the police but a girl’s got to make ends meet somehow.

She groaned as her computers brought her back next to nothing. This guy was nearly as good as her and that damn mask didn’t help at all. If they had wanted her to get to Mogar it would’ve been much easier, he loved to plaster his face across the news but The Vagabond, much like herself, knew the value of privacy. But she understood why it had to be him. He was the one Kingpin trusted more than anyone and practiced as the man’s bodyguard half the time. Plus, if she managed to get him out of the picture permanently it would send a message to everyone in the city. If she managed to eliminate the Fake AH Crew’s toughest, all but immortal soldier, then she would show the world that the Fake AH Crew were nothing but a group of reckless kids who could and _will_ be eliminated. And if she could get _her_ crew’s colours on it?

She chuckled darkly at the thought.

Well, no one would bother them again.

With that motivation steeling her, she turned to a different screen. Booting up an old programme she had constructed a few years ago which seamlessly tapped into the LSPD radio communications. The familiar garble of mundane voices soon filled the empty room and she texted Ashley to bring her a cup of coffee and a sandwich. All that was left to do was wait.

\----

A red light flickered in Gavin’s peripheral view. So dim and so unbelievable that he almost shrugged it off as his tired eyes playing tricks on him. But after a firm blink and rub of his eyes he turned to look at the small red LED light which was attached through a number of cords to his computer and police com system.

His eyes widened and he spluttered aimlessly for a moment or two before quickly reviving his computer out of its sleep mode and checking the status of his com.

_Hack in progress._

His leg started jiggling nervously as an awestruck spread across his face. He’d done it. He’d really done it. After all those months of the LSPD not being able to figure out how Two-Face had been getting away from them he’d finally proven his theory. He had said to Matt at the beginning that it _had_ to be a hacker, someone who had wired themselves into their system. His boss had waved off this suggestion, telling Gavin that the system was ‘unbreakable’ after many years of perfecting it.

But it wasn’t. Gavin _knew_ it wasn’t. So he set up an elaborate system which tied into his computer and communications, which aimed to let him know when their communications were being listened in on. By _her_.

His technology wasn’t advanced enough to track her location (not with the funding the government gave them) but if he knew she was listening it was enough for him to try and figure out what her next move might be. And that was a better advantage than what they’d had in months.

He practically leapt out of his chair, flew out of his office and raced down the hallways to Matt’s office, cawing his name and slamming on the wood of the door until Matt begrudgingly opened the door. “What, Gavin?” he demanded grumpily, despite being used to the younger man’s unrelenting energy.

“I’ve got a lead on Two-Face,” he said excitedly, pushing past Matt and into his office to avoid being overheard.

Matt closed the door behind him, letting out a sigh. “Two-Face is a cold-case, detective. She is impossible to find.”

“And she knows it,” Gavin told him, “which is why she didn’t expect any of us to check if we were being overheard on our coms- Now wait!” he said as he saw Matt open his mouth to argue, “I’ve found a way to tell when she’s listening in. So if I listen when she’s listening I might be able to figure out where she might be going or doing or whatever.”

Matt walked over to his desk and sat down, taking a long sip of coffee as Gavin explained his theory to him. “And how do you know it’s Two-Face listening to us?” he asked tiredly.

“I… I don’t have proof but-“

“Then this hardly counts as a lead on Two-Face. Which means I can assign the job to a lower-ranking officer and have you spending your time following _actual_ leads on _actual_ major criminals,” Matt said firmly.

Gavin threw his arms up in aggravation. “You told me our communications were unbreakable! So it would take a bloody _major_ criminal to hack into it. And who do we know has the brains to do that? Two-Face.”

Matt said nothing, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

“Look,” Gavin continued quickly, not wanting to lose his opportunity. “You brought me in because I think outside of the box. So let me do the job you’re paying me for. If we don’t start taking risks these criminals will continue to destroy our town. And I’m sorry but I don’t think a lower-ranking officer will be able to be able to get into her mind like I can.”

“You are of course referring to your previous life of crime.”

“Which I have turned my back on. You know that - which is why you trust me.”

Gavin could see Matt thinking it over in his head. He knew he was wary of giving Gavin too much freedom, lest something go wrong and he was to blame for Gavin’s death. But hey, if you worked for law enforcement in Los Santos, that’s a risk you had to take.

Finally, Matt set down his mug of coffee with a solemn expression on his face. “You know what kind of risk you’re taking going after her, yes?”

“Yes, sir,” Gavin assured him, taking a professional tone to further his seriousness on the subject.

Matt paused, eyeing Gavin up. Clearly still worried about losing one of his best employees.

“Then I’ll reopen her case and I’ll put you in charge of it,” Matt finally told him, “Will you need anyone working under you?”

Gavin shook his head, “The less people involved the better. We can’t risk her catching on.”

His boss nodded. “Alright. I’ll get the papers done. Get started immediately.”

He tried to fight the grin off of his face. He’d been working so hard to find her for so long this opportunity filled him with surging eagerness. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” he bumbled before rushing out of the room to return to his office. When he sat down at his seat he immediately shoved his headphones on and began listening to the LSPD radio. This was going to be a long game of waiting and analysing. But it was a game he was willing and eager to play.

\----

Meg was curled up in her stake-out car, in black gear, a short black wig, dark purple contacts and matching lipstick. She held her feat near the pedals, ready to move in to sudden action. From the outside she looked causal enough, a dark hoodie thrown on and the car looked shitty from the outside. But the inside was decked with flashy hardware, leather seats and secret hiding places for her weapons. Strapped to her leg was a knife, a gun and spare ammunition in case she ran into trouble. But Meg wasn’t planning on making contact with The Vagabond that night, she was simply observing and would do for the next few weeks until she was sure she knew enough to dive into the deep end.

The feds had said that there was a minor fire in a small back down in the south of the city. They hadn’t thought much of it, letting the fire department deal with it. But Meg had gotten a feeling in her gut as she had heard it called in. It was a bank the Fake AH Crew had never hit before and rumour was out that the crew were building up a powerbase and were grabbing more and more cash to do so. And this would be an easy steal.

So there she was parked a few blocks away from the bank, watching the smoke fade into the night. The firemen were just finishing up and Meg began to wonder, had she made the wrong call?

The street was illuminated with the heat of a large explosion, coming from one of the fire trucks. The firemen were thrown to the ground, some of them killed instantly and others screaming as they found themselves on fire. Meg perked up, pushing on her glasses hastily to look through the smoke and fire for-

And there it was. A dark figure sneaking around a corner, mask and all.

Meg revved up her car, and slowly began the follow him as his traversed his way through the city to a chrome Adder which was waiting to pick him up. To avoid looking suspicious, Meg joined the traffic heading in the opposite direction the Adder was facing. In her rear view mirror she watched The Vagabond throw the money bags into the car and slide in. She had to admit it was slightly impressive. Only she had seen them because she had been expecting them. But by the time the cops would show up it would already be too late, they would be long gone and they would be too busy dealing with the fire and the death to worry about how much money had been stolen and who the hell had stolen it.

She brought up her phone and took a picture of the car. The Vagabond had gotten in the passenger seat so she assumed the car belonged to another member of the crew. But it was good to have as much information as possible.

The Adder pulled away from the curb, did a U turn and joined her stream of traffic (also clearly aiming to be inconspicuous). She grinned at the fortunate development and returned her attention to the road, occasionally looking in the mirrors to make sure that the chrome car was still behind her.

\----

Gavin leaned against the brick wall, watching as the fire truck still flickered with fire a couple blocks down. He had gotten there well before the bomb had gone off due to his device - he had noted that as soon as the report about the bank fire had sounded over the radio his red LED had switched off. She had found what she needed to hear. With that he had hastily grabbed his coat, badge and gun, and stormed out of the office building to his car, barely giving Matt any warning.

He parked his car in a dark side road and had stepped out. He had cast his gaze around the streets which were in the view of the bank, whilst keeping himself hidden in the shadows. She just _had_ to be here. Then he spotted a movement. A tattered, banged-up looking car parked a little way ahead of him. A woman was in the front seat, slouched down and looking casual. Except for the unusually focused fixed gaze on the bank. Gavin scrambled in his pockets for his phone-

He nearly jumped out of his skin as the fire truck exploded but with years of being in the blaze of explosions he soon found himself again. And with the sound of a car engine he knew he had to act fast to get the evidence he needed. It was too late to try and get a good angle on her face but he was quick enough to grab a picture of the car for the license plate. (Though with his past experiences he very much doubted the validity of the licence plate. Two-Face wasn’t one to expose herself like that.) But information was information and, granted that it was her, it would allow him to identify her a lot quicker when she was on the move.

When the car had pulled away out of sight he brought his phone back up to his vision, pressing his back up against the brick. He zoomed in, but the only image of her was from the side of her face, which was mostly covered by her hoodie and dark hair. Not to mention it was incredibly blurry due to the combination of poor lighting and her fast movement. But he was not deterred. This was the closest someone had come to her in a very long time. And with the aid of his device he would know exactly what kind of things she was looking for and even begin to premeditate her moves. Meaning he would eventually be able to catch her out and finally take her down.

\----

Meg managed to follow The Vagabond all the way to a desolate bar about thirty minutes out of the city. It sat near the coast but it was in a crappy enough area that no tourists would dare come near it. Knowing better than to stop at that bar Meg continued to drive, marking off the bar on her pull-out map for future reference.

Feeling her eyes start to feel heavy and the demands of driving suddenly feeling tiresome she decided to call it a night. She had gained valuable information and needed a good night’s sleep if she was to keep up her careful investigation. She couldn’t risk being caught by the Fake AH Crew. So, despite her tiredness she drove out of her way to make it look like she had driven past the bar with a purpose (just on the off chance she had been followed) before heading back into the city to her penthouse.

When she was finally through the doors of her tightly secured apartment she let her shoulder finally sag. The job she had been given was the most interesting one she’d had but it sure took a lot of energy to make sure she didn’t fuck it up. She walked to her backroom where she kept her numerous costumes, wigs and contacts, and lazily pulled off the wig and removed her contacts. She brought her red hair out from under the wig cap and tugged it out of the tight ponytail she had put it in.

As she got ready to go to bed she relished in the silence of her apartment. After a long day of listening out for every single sound over the roar of the city, the quiet was blissful. Some might think that Meg got lonely, in a big apartment all to herself but she didn’t mind. Her job kept her busy and she had many friends there who kept her laughing enough for her not to mind the empty apartment she returned too. And anyways, she couldn’t imagine anyone who would be able to fit into her life. With all the late nights, near-death encounters and secrecy, Meg wasn’t the easiest person to date.

\----

It had taken around a month of careful watching before Gavin was sure it was her but he still wasn’t much further than that. She was smarter than he’d even anticipated. After his first encounter with Two-Face he had thought he could enter her licence plate into the system so that traffic cameras could track her movements whilst he watched from the comfort of his office. Yet it had not been that simple.

Licence plate deflectors were common within the city and the LSPD had updated its software so that most deflectors were pretty much useless against their cameras. Most crime rings such as the Fake AH Crew or the Rooster Teeth Crew had just simply torn the licence plates off. Thus why it seemed to be such a lucky find when he managed to grab a picture of the licence plate of her, what he assumed to be, incognito car. But when he had brought up the picture he suddenly realised that it was unreadable. Annoyed, but not stumped, he sent the file over to his computer to run it through their new programme which was designed to reconstruct missing license plates due to deflectors. But when the programme came back with nothing he was floored.

He went down to the lab team to get them to see if they could figure out if she had used an antireflective coating or what. After two days Matt and Jeremy came back empty-handed and apologetic. That meant that even if he could somehow memorise her licence plate next time he saw her and jot it down on some paper, it would still mean bollocks all. There was no point having the licence plate if the traffic cameras could not find it.

“She must be using some more advanced technology,” Jeremy had mused to him.

“Yeah,” Matt agreed, “I mean the reports do say that Two-Face is one of the smarted criminals out there. That’s why she’s always fallen out of our grasp.”

Gavin had rubbed his temples, aggravated at the situation and finding it hard not to take it out on them. “Alright, yeah. That’s all Agent Bragg, Agent Dooley.”

And there he was a month after his breakthrough with nothing more than a blurry picture and a sign to when she was hacking the system. He knew these things often went by slow but he wasn’t a man of patience. And it only dwindled more and more with every time he rushed to a sight she may be at to see her speeding away from a crime – thus leading to his folder full of blurry photos.

But at least he had some sort of handle on what she was doing. More often than not she would appear at the scene of a Fake AH Crew crime and then drive off before the cop cars showed up. Which led him to believe that Rooster Teeth were planning on making a move. A part of him felt giddy at the idea of Los Santos’ two major crews going head-to-head, it would be a battle of the ages which had been long building up over the past decade (back when Burns and Kingpin had split to form their crews twelve years ago). But the other part, the part of him which had been moulded by his work with the government, was terrified at the thought. How much damage would Los Santos have to see until a final victor emerged? Or would the city become a new warzone?

\----

Meg, after her month of watching, had found her way in. Turned out that the crummy bar The Vagabond had disappeared into that first night was not only a legitimate bar but a place the masked murderer often went after a successful job. Meg was mildly amused at the crew’s unconcerned attitude to the fact that the cops had choppers in the air scanning the city for them. But then again, unlike Meg, the cops didn’t seem to premediate the Fake AH Crew’s attacks meaning they always missed the Vagabond as he cruised away in someone else’s vehicle leaving them looking for a needle in a haystack.

After discovering the bar, she eliminated one of the bartenders (nothing violent, Meg just politely encouraged them to move to a different state) and after a week or so applied for the vacant job. To keep things simple and to avoid slip ups, she opted to go natural with her look. Meaning her usual red hair, brown eyes and simple make-up. Unfortunately, the bar required her working night-shifts nearly every night but she was dedicated to her job, so she took it in stride. (After being told sternly by the owner that – “You’re not paid to listen. If you hear or see anything you shouldn’t, keep your pretty mouth shut. We need any business we can get.” – which let her know that the Fake AH Crew probably paid the man to stay quiet.)

On her eighth night, three rowdy men burst into the bar. Meg jumped at the sound of the doors crashing into the wall and looked up briefly to scan them. The oldest man was taking the lead towards the bar, shouting about grabbing some drinks. He had a handle-bar moustache and a gun strapped to him. A younger man bounced behind him, cackling with laughter at some unheard joke, his reddish curls peeping out from under a worn beanie whilst a tall blond man followed behind, smiling wryly as he shrugged off his leather jacket and hung it up on the wall. Meg’s eyebrow raised slightly as she saw the biceps budging out from underneath his blue t-shirt.

To the everyday eye they looked like a normal couple of guys looking to have some late-night fun. But Meg knew differently. After years of quickly changing outfits she knew the slip ups well and the things you couldn’t hide. Like the red scratches on their bodies and the fresh bandage which was peeking out from under the blond’s shirt. And then there were things only a fellow criminal could see, like the fire behind their eyes due to another successful job. Meg kept her heartbeat steady – this was it.

The oldest man approached her, his eyebrows furrowing as he asked her, “Hey, where’s Malory?”

“Who?” Meg asked, feigning ignorance.

The man hesitated for a moment before shrugging and saying, “She made weak drinks anyway. We’ll have two vodkas on the rocks.”

“And a diet coke,” the blond added.

“Alright,” she told them, moving to make their drinks and then grabbing a can of diet coke from the fridge. The older man grabbed the two alcoholic drinks and walked over to where the curly-haired man had slipped into a booth. The blond thanked her and put a hundred dollar bill on the counter.

She gaped for a second before saying, “I… You don’t owe that much, sir.”

He shrugged, “If you’re working here you probably need the money. Keep the change as a tip, Red.”

“Red?” she repeated, raising her eyebrows. “I have a name.” She punctuated her sentence by pointing to the name-tag which said ‘Meg’ on it.

He smirked at her as he grabbed the can off of the counter. “Thanks for the drink, _Red_ ,” he teased before moving to join his friends in the back.

As the three men continued to loudly chat in their booth, Meg pulled out a cloth and started to scrub down the bar, removing any sticky beer stains as she went over information in her head. In her time with the Rooster Teeth Crew she’d come to blows with the Fake AH Crew every once and awhile which allowed her identify them much faster than with the security camera footage the LSPD used. The youngest one was probably Mogar, the one with moustache she assumed to be Kingpin which left the blond as The Vagabond.

She hadn’t known what she was expecting from the infamous Vagabond but this was certainly not it. He was a hell of a lot more handsome than she had been expecting and a lot less scary. He looked more like a hot dad than a violent criminal who dabbled in torture. That being said, she wasn’t complaining. It was a hell of a lot easier to flirt with someone she found genuinely attractive, rather than having to fake it. Point and case; Vagabond had looked up to catch Meg checking him out, a smirk stretched across his lips making her blush a deep red before dropping her gaze.

The rest of the night continued uneventfully. The three men stayed for an hour or so before thanking her and disappearing out into the night. When her shift finally ended she hurried home and sent Burnie a message.

_I’m in._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I hope you enjoyed that! This was just an introduction chapter but there will be A LOT more interaction in the future chapters.
> 
> Let me know what you thought and follow me on tumblr (queenmeg)!


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meg moves further on in her mission, and Gavin finds himself stumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twice as long as the last chapter so hopefully twice as interesting!

It was roughly two weeks since Meg had first encountered The Vagabond’s true face and since then she had learnt three things: his name was Ryan, his eyes were _very_ blue and he was a hideous flirt. More and more he chose not to sit with his friends right away but to sidle up the bar and great her with a familiar, “Hey, Red.”

To which she would roll her eyes - long given up on getting him to call her Meg – and get him his usual, a diet coke. He would murmur a thank you and ask her how she was.

She would give a shrug and say, “I’m working here aren’t I?” or some variant of that and he would chuckle and move to talk to his friends – not before shooting her a wink.

Yet this night was different. A whole crowd of people (of whom she assumed were involved with the Fake AH Crew) piled into the bar, ordering their drinks and tipping her generously when she added extra booze. Meg had been following the news on her phone that night and knew that there had been a successful heist of an armoured truck for the Fake AH Crew so she wasn’t surprised that they all look battered and bruised.

When she finished handing out the various shots and cocktails and the crowd thinned as they spread themselves around the car, she looked around for her familiar blue-eyed target. Then she noticed him, moving slowly towards her, clutching his arm tightly. Ryan met her concerned gaze with a grim smile and told her over the hum of people, “Bullet got me in the shoulder. Could you get me something to wrap it with? I’d go home but…” he trailed off.

She nodded, “Say no more. I’ve got a first aid kit in the back and I can probably get it out if you want.”

Ryan looked hesitant, “Would you know how to?”

Meg laughed, “Don’t worry, I have experience with this kind of shit.” He raised an eyebrow but before he had the opportunity to ask more she slipped to the back and fished out the first aid kit. To be honest, it was pretty shabby so she grabbed her bag and brought out her own supplies such as disinfectant and some utensils to help her fish the bullet out.

When she returned, Ryan had moved to a secluded booth and she followed him to it. “For once I might push you to buy a strong drink,” she told him, “No pain killers in the back.” He grimaced and she added, “Would it help if I said it was on the house?”

He chuckled, “You know I don’t have money problems.”

She shrugged before pressing, “I should really get you a drink.”

“Fine,” he conceded. Meg smiled, placing the first aid kit on the desk to return to the bar to quickly pour him a strong drink. He grimaced again as he took his down, coughing slightly as he did.

She smirked at him before settling down next to him. He gingerly pushed up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal the gory wound. He hissed as she began her work, keeping her hands steady as she wiped away the excess blood so she could see what she was doing better.

“Your very good at this,” he told her through clenched teeth as she begun to extract the bullet. 

She smiled grimly, “I’ve had practice.”

“Care to share?”

“Not particularly.”

“Fair enough.” His voice hitching as she finally pulled it out. She wiped it down again, this time with some antiseptic cream added. Then she grabbed the dressing for the wound and securely wrapped it around it, tying the two ends together.

“All done,” she said brightly, “I don’t think it’ll scar but if it does it’ll be a clean one at least.”

“Thank you,” he told her earnestly and she looked up to find his eyes searching her, as if she were a puzzle he couldn’t quite make out.

She smiled. “It’s no problem,” she said, her voice coming out softer than expected, “but I should probably get back to my job.”

He nodded, “I’ll let your boss know that you’re a keeper and that he should probably pay you more.”

Meg laughed light-heartedly, “I’m surviving alright on your tips.” He chuckled in response, low and rumbling. And the sound sent tingles down her spine and heat pool through her body.

_Remember Meg,_ she reminded herself, _this is a job. Don’t get attached. He’s the enemy remember?_

But the way he was looking her made her doubt whether or not it was too late.

\----

Gavin’s investigation had come to a screeching halt. Either his machine was broken or Two-Face was no longer listening in to the police reports. He believed it to be the latter. Which led him to be more clueless and frustrated than ever.

He had managed, during her last appearance, to hastily write down the licence plate and had sent it out to all police officers in Los Santos to be on the lookout for – and to call him with the location immediately. That had been three weeks ago and so far nothing had come back.

So he was just left with the helpless feeling that Los Santos had become a ticking time bomb and any minute now the timer would run out. Extra pressure was put on officers to capture members of criminal gangs and one reported back that they thought they might have injured the Vagabond but not lethally or severely enough that they were able to capture him.

And Gavin felt like he was given only one option.

\----

After the bullet wound incident Ryan started to hang around beside her for longer and longer before heading over to his crewmates. Often choosing to fire a random question at her such as:

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“Favourite food?”

“Cat person or dog person?”

“Night shower or morning shower?”

And so on, and so forth. He even started to call her Meg. She found it highly amusing and answered the questions easily, not finding it necessary to lie. And besides, if it meant he was interested in her she might as well fan the flames. The key to seducing someone such as The Vagabond was simple; let him feel in charge of the situation. Wanted criminals often didn’t take to being treated like a game or a toy – that often led the criminal catching on fast and eliminating you as a threat.

“So you know who I am, right?” he asked her one night as he got halfway through his diet coke, yet to return to his rowdy friends. Her eyes flicked to his, tensing up but he seemed wholly unconcerned. “I mean, you’re a smart girl, Meg. I assumed you’d figured it out.”

She hesitated before admitting, “Yeah. Yeah I know.”

“And you don’t care?” he inquired, his blue eyes boring into hers again as he tried to solve the puzzle of her mind once again.

“Let’s just say I know why you do it.”

He quirked an eyebrow, “And why’s that?”

“The rush,” she stated simply.

He stopped drinking to tilt his head at her, intrigue dancing across his eyes. “I’m starting to get the feeling you’re more than just a bartender.”

She laughed, ignoring the twinge of worry that she had let on too much. “Hey, in this city everyone gets a taste of the criminal life at one point or another. But I wasn’t cut out for the bullets and explosions.”

“And yet you know how to treat a bullet wound.”

Meg dropped her gaze from him, “All things I learnt many years ago. But trust me, if could make as much cash as you do I _would_. I gave up that life to start a family but my guy walked out on me and I never really got back into it.” This wasn’t too much of a stretch from the truth, back in her hometown her and her lover had made quite a name for themselves but decided to drop the whole criminal act once they decided they wanted to settle down and have kids. And like she had told Ryan, he had left her high and dry. However, the truth was that only months later Burnie contacted her and brought her to Los Santos.

He frowned, “I’m sorry to hear that.” She shrugged, it was a long time ago. “But he was a fool to leave you, you know.”

Meg smiled gratefully at him, “Thank you. But truth be told I’m not the easiest person to date.”

Ryan chuckled briefly before telling her, “Neither am I. But it comes with the job.”

After that they fell into easy conversation and for the first time Ryan never returned to his friends. When they had successfully finished their drinks and exhausted conversation, one of them slapped a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and said, “Time to call it a night?”

He nodded, sent his customary wink to Meg (which roughly translated to a goodbye) and disappeared into the darkness, shrugging on his heavy leather jacket. And she couldn’t help but notice the way it fell across his broad shoulders, the tag sticking up slightly at the nape of his neck. Her fingers twitched with a desire to tuck it in and to kiss the pale skin revealed there.

\----

When Meg finished her shift that night it was still only the early hours of the morning. The sky above her lay flat with dark cloud and navy sky. The stars clogged up with pollution which encompassed the city. She was absentmindedly tossing her keys into the air and catching them easily. On her fourth toss up the keys clattered to the ground. Meg had been roughly pushed into a wall, the barrel of a gun pressed up against her chest.

When she looked up she was met by the gaze of bright green eyes, tousled brown hair which faded to the scruff of stubble. Yet despite the attractiveness of her assaulter, she was more drawn to the bright badge on his chest.

“Can I help you, _detective_?” she sneered. She knew she could easily have him on the floor in seconds but she enjoyed playing with her toys a little. And more importantly, she wanted to know how the fuck he had found her.

“Cut the crap,” he said sharply, “I know you’re Two-Face and you’re under arrest.”

“Don’t you want to know what I’m doing here?” she simpered.

 “I’ll find that out later.”

“Later might be _too_ late,” she told him.

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play games-“

“I’m not. But I’m in the middle of a job right now so I’d appreciate it not being interrupted and anyway I believe we have similar aims.”

“My aim is to get you locked a jail cell,” he snarled, “so unless you want to be caged up for the rest of your life-“

“No, no Mr Detective. I’m talking about getting rid of the Fake AH Crew,” she drawled lazily.

“I’m not interested in your war.”

“Don’t lie. I know who you are, Free.” He recoiled at the use of his surname. “It’s my job to know who is in the LSPD and where they came from. I’m quite the accomplished hacker, you know. So I know all about your dirty past.”

His face blanched. And he stammered before snapping, “I’m not that kid anymore. I’m not interested in blowing up cars and destroying the city.”

Meg raised an eyebrow and Free bristled at her obvious disbelief. “To be honest I don’t particularly care if you’re reformed or not. But my crew’s intention is not destruction but a process of careful elimination. Expose the Fake AH Crew as nothing more than a bunch of kids and their enemies will take them out, assassin by assassin. No destruction involved.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Free demanded, pushing the gun with slightly bruising force.

“I’m not telling you shit until you promise not to take me in,” she said firmly. He huffed, clearly irritated and equally torn. “Look, Free. Either you take me in before Rooster Teeth can stop mass destruction from the Fake AH Crew - because _they_ are looking for war, I can assure you – or you can help me do my job and take credit for taking down one of their top members. I’ll deliver him right to you.”

The Brit cocked his head, clearly sensing the truth in her words.

“Scout’s honour,” she added sarcastically. At this comment the corners of his mouth twitched.

“Fine,” he finally bit out, dropping his gun. “But you report to me every Monday and update me on your situation.”

“Alright. But not here, it’s too public. I know a location along the beach we can meet,” she told him. “I can write down the directions for you.” He handed her a piece of scrap paper and she scribbled it down. “By the way,” she began, “how did you find me?”

“Saw your license plate. Wrote it down, had my men look for you,” he told her as he examined the paper.

“And how did you know that car was mine?” she demanded.

His green eyes surveyed her carefully. “Maybe I’ll tell you when I trust you a bit more.”

“Fair enough.”

“So Monday at six, every week.”

“It’s a date,” she drawled sarcastically.

\----

As Meg drove back home that night she wondered idly why she had let the Brit go. She could have just as easily extracted information out him by tearing the gun out his hand, knocking him out and bringing back to base for some ‘encouragement’ but instead she decided to make a deal with the devil – all but tying a leash around her neck. She supposed that something about him had intrigued her.

Was it the clear conflict between chaos and justice which tore through his gaze? Or was it the fact that the government thought they good purify a corrupt young boy through the death of his friend? She wondered how Detective Free would react if he knew that Geoff Ramsey was still alive and reconciling chaos and justice in his own way.

\----

Gavin, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder, listened to the dial tone as he drove back to the city. A bittersweet victory in his grasp.

“What’s the news?” Matt’s voice replacing the sound of beeps.

“I’ve gained a new contact who will be helping me out. I’ve come to believe that it is not Rooster Teeth who are our main threat at the moment but the Fake AH Crew. They want a war and they’ll destroy our city doing it,” Gavin told him.

There was a moment of silence as he allowed his boss to take in the information. “And you’re sure of this?”

“Absolutely. I’m working on taking down the Fake AH Crew right now.”

“How?”

“By exposing their weaknesses, sir.”

“You’re being awfully vague,” Matt told him, worry apparent in his voice.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he apologised, “but if this is going to work this is how it has to be. These gangs can tap into anything so I can’t give too much away.” This wasn’t necessarily Gavin’s main concern but he didn’t think Matt would take to well to learn that Gavin had indeed found Two-Face and was actually working _with_ the bird.

This seemed to appease Matt, he only asked, “But you’re okay, right?” before wishing Gavin luck and hanging up the phone.

In the silence that followed Gavin couldn’t help but feel that he had taken a step too close to the fire. And he wanted more than nothing to stretch his fingers out and see how the hot flames would feel as they licked his skin- but his judgement warned him that it was only going to get him hurt. Yet with the image of Two-Face’s fiery gaze and the promise of schemes and somewhat re-joining the criminal underground, Gavin’s hand remained outstretched, the warmth of the fire inviting him closer.

\----

That following Monday, Meg was perched upon a rock, her car parked a little further up and a shawl around her shoulders to keep her warm. She was hoping that the detective wouldn’t keep her long as her shift started in an hour.

Just as the clock on her phone turned to six o’clock she heard a car pull up behind her. She didn’t bother to turn to make sure who it was and soon enough she heard the crunch of shoes on sand as he moved to join her on her rock perch. On her left a pair of union-jack themed Converse appeared in her peripheral vision and she raised an amused eyebrow.

“Hardly professional,” she quipped as he continued to stand beside her.

“Not a fan of suits,” he told her.

“You going to sit or…?”

Pause. “Might as well.” He clambered down beside her on the dry surface, the evening breeze ruffling their hair. It might have been romantic if they weren’t both ready to fire on each other in an instant. “So what’s your set up?” he asked her.

“I work in that bar you caught me outside of,” she explained, “The Fake AH Crew pay the owner there to keep quiet and make sure his employees do too. They use it as they own personal bar for when they’ve had a successful mission.”

He nodded, “And your target?”

“The Vagabond.”

Free spluttered for a moment, “You mean the bloke who dresses up in that terrifying mask? The one who takes regulated ‘murder breaks’?”

She nodded, a grin on her lips. “Yeah, he’s not what you’d expect. To be honest he’s bit a dork.”

“A dork?!” he squawked, “Have you seen what he’s done to people?!”

She rolled her eyes, amused by his worrying. “Don’t be so naïve. You should know more than anyone that people aren’t just their profession. They have multiple sides to them.”

“And you think Vagabond has a less murderous, ‘dorky’ side to him,” Free reiterated.

“ _Yes_ ,” Meg assured him, “this guy sits at home binging Destiny in his free time and being _really_ bad at Nintendo games.”

The detective turned to look at her, “You sound fond of him.”

She was. Meg held her shawl closer to her and replies flatly, “Don't worry, Free. I'm a professional.”

If he wasn't convinced, he didn't say anything. Rather he chose to correct her choice of addressing him – “Don't call me that. Gavin's fine.”

She paused for a moment. “Fine. Then you can call me Meg.”

He looked surprised but pleasantry so. Her giving him her name was a huge sign of trust.

“So, _Gavin_ ,” she said drawling his name, “am I free to go to ‘work’ now?”

“I’ll see you next week then?”

“Don’t miss me too much.”

“Oh give off it,” he called after her as she pushed herself to her feet, but she was pretty sure she caught the beginnings of a smile on his face.

\----

So they fell into a routine. Of Gavin trying to stay professional whilst Meg tried to dig under his skin. Trying to figure out how to break that wall of conservatism that the government had built around him and find the _real_ Gavin.

“So,” she began one day just as she was finished retelling Gavin about the bar fight Mogar had gotten into which Ryan had split up, “what did they do to you, huh?”

The Brit tensed, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know I’ve read your files. And they say that when you were twenty, you had an accident, the government promised to clean your slate if you worked for them, blah, blah, blah. But what they don’t tell me is how they managed to suffocate that light in you,” she said, leaning towards him so that she could analyse him.

He clenched his jaw, as he often did when she brought up his past. She guessed whatever brainwashing the government did, it meant he didn’t like to think about it much. “They trained me. Saved me from a life of crime. I don’t know, Meg. It wasn’t some secret spy shit.”

“You think you’re any safer working for them?” she asked him seriously.

“We talking physically or morally?” he retaliated. With perhaps more venom than he’d anticipated, but he made no move to apologise.

She laughed coldly. “You think the LSPD are that great? They’re as bloodthirsty as us. At least we’re not corrupt.”

“Stop referring to the LSPD as ‘them’. I work for ‘them’ remember?”

Another dry chuckle from Meg. “Oh sweetie, you’re not one of them.”

“You know what?” he snapped, “I think we’re done here for today.” And with that he stormed off to his car and drove away.

\----

Other times they had nicer moments. These were days when Gavin had had a good day out of the office, days in which his true self seemed to slip through the cracks. Those were the days that Meg decided not to pry because she didn’t want to ruin the good time they were having.

Such as the time he brought a box of doughnuts.

Meg laughed, tears forming in her eyes as she cried, “What a fucking stereotype!”

Gavin had laughed too, “Bollocks, I didn’t even realise.”

Letting out another peel of laughter she told him, “That makes it even better.”

But hey, she wasn’t complaining. _Krispy Kreme_ doughnuts were  never something to complain about. Halfway through a glazed doughnut Meg said, “You know what goes really well with this?”

“Mhhm?” He made a noise, his mouth currently full of doughnut. But she figured it roughly translated to, ‘All-knowing, all-seeing goddess. Will you please pass on some of your wisdom?’

“A nice thick hot chocolate. Dunk the doughnut in and it’s sugary heaven.”

Gavin swallowed. “I’ll be sure to try that.”

\----

The next time he brought doughnuts, he grabbed them both hot chocolates too.

\----

This day it was raining _hard_. Solid drops of rain thrashing themselves into the soggy sand and soil. Meg and Gavin had huddled inside his car once it had started and were now seeing if they could wait it out before she tried to return to her car which was a five minute walk away. (She didn’t feel like going to work sopping wet.)

“You’re going to be late if you don’t go soon,” Gavin told her, as the rain showed no sign of easing up.

“I’m not going out in that!” she cried.

“Just suck it up! It’s only bloody rain!” he retorted.

She huffed, “I bet you couldn’t last thirty seconds in that monster storm.”

He cocked his head. “How much are you willing to bet?”

Meg raised her eyebrows, the beginning of a smirk on her lips, “Fifty bucks sound about right?”

He mirrored her mischievous look, “Deal. Thirty seconds. Time it.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” she promised, giving him a mock salute, and holding up her watch.

“Okay, alright,” he said, his hand on the car door as he psyched himself up to do it.

“Hey, Gav, remember – ‘it’s only bloody’ rain,” she taunted, mocking his British accent.

He scowled at her before throwing the door open and throwing himself in to the storm. She laughed heartily as he squawked as the rain and wind hit him from all direction. Meg hauled the car door shut again to protect herself from the storm as she watched Gavin’s hair fall flat as it grew wetter and wetter.

“IS IT UP?” he cried and she laughed again, shaking her head. Fifteen seconds to go. “SHIT.”

Meg giggled as he slipped around in the mud and slid across the wet rock. “Hey, Aqua Man you’re done!”

He let out a triumphant cry but as he moved towards the car she launched herself to the driver’s seat and locked the car form the inside. He tugged at the handles helplessly, letting out a cry of defeat, begging her to let him in.

“What will it get me?” she shouted said, lowering the window slightly to allow them to speak.

“Anything! Bloody extra doughnuts, I don’t know!”

“That’ll do,” she agreed happily, unlocking the car and letting a thoroughly grumpy and soaked to the bone Gavin.

“You’re a monster. No wonder you’ve got a bounty over your head.”

Meg simply giggled, “That would have nothing to do with the kill count I have, of course.” Gavin just glared at her which made the victory even sweeter. And she thought idly to herself that if they lived in a parallel universe where she wasn’t a criminal and he wasn’t a cop – she’d probably ask him out.

Life was weird like that.

\----

By the time the rain had eased up enough she reached the bar around half an hour late and her boss sighed but didn’t saying anything, not daring to piss off his best employee. She muttered an apology as she hurried past him to the bar where blue-eyes and a crooked smile were waiting for her.

Meg smiled warmly at him. “You’re early.”

“You’re late,” he countered, mimicking her expression. She couldn’t help but remember Gavin’s statement from a few weeks earlier. _“You sound fond of him.”_

She shrugged, aiming for blasé but Ryan sensed that something was off. His eyebrows furrowed but even before he could ask her the question she cut him off, reassuring him that- “I’m fine, Rye.” The nickname slipped off her tongue before she even knew she’d nicknamed him.

A bemused look crossed his face but it soon melted into affection. “That’s no fair. Your name is already a nickname.”

“Well you did call me ‘Red’ for a while there,” she teased.

“Yeah but you didn’t like that nickname.”

“And you like yours?” she asked, leaving the question in the air.

He smiled. “Yeah, yeah it feels… homely.” A blush rose in her cheeks at the sentiment and they fell into comfortable silence. However this silence only induced her to ask-

“Where are your friends?”

“Ah. Well they’re a bit tied up at the moment but they should be here soon,” he explained, his speech sounding jagged and broken as he struggled to find the least evasive words to describe whatever crime they were up to.

“I assume in this situation that it’s safer for me to know less?”

He nodded, relieved that she wasn’t angry at his lack of openness.  He opened his mouth to say something but before he could the door crashed open and several armed men charged into the room.

“He’s there!” one of the men cried as they noticed Ryan.

Meg went into autopilot. As Ryan leapt over to her side of the bar for cover she whipped out the handgun she had strapped underneath the wood of the bar. She exchanged a quick look with Ryan, who already had his gun out, before they jumped up and shot their enemies.

As they heard others from outside start to come closer, Ryan grabbed her and they started to run out of the back. “My car is slow as shit,” she told him, nodding her head to the piece of junk car she used as a cover.

“That’s fine. We’ll take my motorcycle,” Ryan said. She recognised his robotic nature as aligning with hers. They both reacted to surprises such as these in the same way, which meant that they made a good team.

Fortunately Ryan had parked his bike away from the entrance, meaning out of the sight of the faceless armed guards. He straddled the bike and as he revved it up she slipped on behind, wrapping one arm around his waist. “I’ll take out anyone who tries to follow us,” she told him, quickly reloading her gun. He nodded as he pulled his trademark mask out of his bag, put it on and immediately took off. A few stragglers trailed behind them, in vehicles much slower than theirs. Some she took out with a bullet to the throat, others she blew out their tires or happily took the grenade Ryan handed her to chuck it at an incoming car and watch the flames dance behind her. She laughed joyfully as one of the bikers swerved and clattered into the fire. (She always had suspected she had an arsonist in her.) In fact, she was having such a good time that she didn’t even begin to think what this meant for keeping Ryan in the dark about her true identity or where he was taking her until he pulled into a clean looking garage in an apartment building – their pursuers successfully eliminated.

She gingerly got off her bike, looking around the garage filled with fancy cars and bullet proof trucks. She stood frozen. Torn between wanting to take Ryan’s outstretched hand and calling the location in to Burnie. She looked up at Ryan’s gaze and chose the former. Her small fingers weaved in between his large calloused ones and he led her to the elevator at the back of the room.

They rode it in silence. His hand tightly holding onto hers as if he was afraid she would run and hide. The doors shuddered and slide open to reveal an apartment almost more luxurious as hers. He had a fish tank which rose to the ceiling and a small dog scampered over to meet them, barking happily as Ryan let go of her hand to bend over to scratch it behind its ears.

“This is Edgar,” he told her, as she bent down to ruffle his curly fur.

“Edgar’s a bit old-fashioned,” she told him, a smile rising to her lips as the dog wagged his tail eagerly. He hummed in agreement. And she added quickly, “But it suits him.”

Ryan rose and Meg followed him. The dog yapping at their feet before running circles around them. When she finally met his gaze he was looking at her strangely. She knew this was the moment she should attack. He trusted her, he had led her to his home. This was the moment she had been waiting for the past month. Yet all she could do was gravitate towards him, sighing as his hands moved to cup her face.

“What do you want, Meg?” he asked her, his voice a low whisper. Her mind was going fuzzy, his lips were intoxicatingly close hers to the point where she could feel his breath wash over him.

“You.”

He surged forward, catching his mouth in hers and she melted into him. They spent a few moments of blissful kissing before one of his hands moved to grab her around the waist, pushing her up against the nearest wall. She let out a small noise as her back hit it, but it wasn’t a complaint – she liked it rough. Her mind was going foggy and she felt his cool fingertips slide under her shirt. She gasped softly at the contact. He nipped at her lips quickly before moving down to cover her neck in wet open-mouthed kisses. Her breath was coming short and heavy, his fingers slipping under her bra to feel the soft skin there.

But it was all too much. She’d done this song and dance a million times, but she couldn’t do it to him. Not when she was lying to him.

“Ryan,” she panted, pausing to moan as he ground his hips into hers.

“Mhmm?”

“I need to-to tell you something,” she told him, trying to sound as serious as possible.

He paused, moving up to look her in the eyes and the strange look was back. “Yes?”

“I’m not some poor, lonely girl who works in a bar,” she said. His eyes flicked between hers, his large fingers moving to cup her chin gently.

“I know,” he told her. “I know who you are.”

She tensed up. “What?”

“I only had my suspicions on who your real identity was,” he told her calmly, his grip on her tightening as she threatened to leave his grasp, “but tonight solidified it. The only other person in this town who loved arson just as much as me is Two-Face.”

“Then you probably know what I’ve been assigned to do,” she told him grimly.

Ryan nodded. “Eliminated me as a threat. For what end, I don’t care.”

“Then why am I still alive?”

“Because you have no intention of hurting me.”

She frowned, “And what makes you think that?”

“We were alone together in the bar. You didn’t even seem to contemplate hurting me. Then moments before I saw that it crossed your mind but you let me kiss you instead.” And as if to prove his point he kissed her briefly. “Which lets me know that you must be as crazy about me as I am you. Learning your real identity was a slow process but if anything it made me want you more.”

Meg’s mind was swimming with the new information. He knew who she was. He was crazy about her. And yes, she could finally admit it – she was crazy about him too. How Shakespearean tragedy of them.

“This will never work,” she said sadly, her fingers running down his chest.

He pressed a kiss against her temple, then her cheek and then her mouth. “Let’s just think about tonight. And what we want right now. We can think about later, _later_.”

“But Ryan-“

“Meg, when was the last time you just did something for yourself?” he asked her, and she could feel herself melting under his blue-eyed gaze.

When she offered no protest he dipped down to kiss her again. Her nerves tingling as they kissed slowly, his fingers returning to go under her shirt but this time he pulled it off her. Just as he was about to re-join their lips Edgar barked impatiently at their feet.

“Damn dog,” he cursed playfully before sweeping Meg up bridal style and heading to the bedroom, shutting the door just before the dog could follow them in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'll be aiming to get out one chapter a week but since the first chapter was so short I posted this a bit early <3


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They collide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the turnfreewood commence.

_What am I doing?_  That was the thought which was spinning through Meg’s mind the following morning. With the covers haphazardly thrown over them, nose-to-nose with each other as Ryan’s arm was slung over her. A small smile tugged at her nervous expression as he snored slightly in his sleep.

Once again she couldn’t help but wonder how things would be if they were normal people. They might have taken things slower, gone on a date to see a movie or some cliché bullshit like that. But that wasn’t how it worked in the criminal world. When your job meant being in danger of being killed or arrested twenty-four-seven the word ‘slow’ didn’t fall into your vocabulary. Everything was fast, heightened and sleeping with Ryan meant so much more than just a fling. They were, by lack of a better word, rivals. Who knows how their crews would feel towards this kind of betrayal? Crews like theirs depended on and ensured that their members were loyal to the core, meaning disloyalty was punished fiercely. She could take the risk for herself, but she felt sick at the thought of putting Ryan in danger, of tearing him away from his crew, who seemed to be like his family.

Meg jumped as Ryan’s phone began ringing. The blond groaned as he was awakened prematurely. “Probably, m’boss,” he told her groggily, kissing her briefly before grabbing the phone and heading out of the room.

\----

Ryan rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he closed the door behind him. He pulled the phone up to his ear and said, “Hey.”

“ _Hey_?!” Geoff’s voice cried from the other side of the line and Ryan winced. “What the fuck, dude?! You get ambushed and you don’t check in? We were worried sick about you.”

“I can take care of myself, Geoff.” But he was warmed by their concern.

“Don’t pull that Vagabond bullshit with me, bud. You _always_ check in, I thought they’d finally got you.”

Guilt tugged at him upon hearing the strain in Geoff’s voice. “I’m sorry. I was… busy.”

“Doing _what_?!” Geoff’s voice cracked which only heightened the apparent indignation.

“Perhaps the word ‘what’ isn’t the right word.”

“You mean to tell me that you had us worrying our asses off because you were banging someone?! Do you get off on danger or something like that?”

“I mean...” A smirk crawled up his lips.

Geoff swore quietly. “Jesus Christ, Ryan. Just- just check in, bud.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you,” he apologised, taking a serious tone.

His boss sighed. “I know. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’ll tell the crew you’re safe, Michael has been pacing non-stop all night. It would be helpful if we fucking knew where you lived, dude.”

“So you could walk in on me having sex? No thanks.”

Anther sigh. “You’re lucky I like you ‘cause you’re a lot more effort than you’re worth.”

Ryan laughed good-heartedly. “Alright, I’ll come to base later today to fill you in on what happened.”

“You better. See you.” And then the line went dead.

When he returned to his bedroom Meg’s eyes flashed up to him. He smiled as he noticed that she had pulled on one of his shirts and was currently sitting crossed-legged on his bed. However his smile faltered at the look on her face.

“You think too hard,” he told her, sitting down beside her.

“You said we’d talk about it later. I think it’s sufficiently ‘later’.”

He could see her stubbornness kicking in and he sighed. “What do you want me to say Meg? Talking about the difficult position we’re in doesn’t change it.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “We’re in rival crews. You’ve been assigned to eliminate me. Whatever happens between us has to stay in the dark.”

“And what do I do about my job? I’ve never failed to take anyone down. The two options I would take was kill or be killed. I’d never resort to failure.”

“I know.”

“But I could never hurt you. Not now.”

Ryan opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of Meg’s phone ringing from her discarded jeans. She sent him an apologetic look before fishing it out and leaving the room just as he did moments earlier.

She was only gone for five minutes or so before she returned to the room, her face covered in tears.

“Meg what-?”

He rushed to her but she held out her hand to stop him. “N-no don’t.”

Ryan’s arms fell to his side and noticed how Meg was pointedly not looking into his eyes. “Meg, what’s happened?”

“Jinx. M-my friend she-“ Meg let out a broken sob. “She’s in our medical facility, in critical condition.”

A stone dropped in his stomach. He’d heard of Jinx and her infamous friendship with Meg, they had practically grown up together.

“Meg I’m so-“

“Ask me who did it,” she cut him off, suddenly sounding a lot more viscous.

A nervousness crept up on him as he asked, “Who did it?”

“The Fake AH Crew,” she spat.

“No. No we didn’t’ have any plans to-“

“Don’t bullshit me, Ryan,” her voice wavered slightly but she seemed to be steeled by her anger. “We’ve known for a while that you guys were going to attack us. That’s why Burnie sent me to eliminate you.” She paused, before asking weakly, “Did you know?”

He shook his head firmly but disbelief was awash across her face. “Meg, I promise you. I never heard of any plans to attack Jinx. We had one out on _you_. Not her. _You_ were our target. Michael has been looking for you for weeks now. Once I realised you were, well, _you_ , I started throwing him off your scent.”

“Then perhaps Michael tried to kill her - thinking it was me.”

“No,” Ryan told her firmly, “Everyone except me was at base last night. After an ambush like yesterday, protocol is that we return to base. I obviously couldn’t do that with you with me. But the rules go that everyone stays at base until all members have returned. If by twenty-four hours a member has not returned we go looking for answers. Thus everyone was at the base last night. So it _couldn’t_ have been us.”

Meg frowned. “Then who?”

“Someone trying to stir up trouble between the crews? Then blaming it on the Fake AH Crew.”

Suddenly her eyes widened. “I need to go.”

“Meg wait-“

“I’ll call you later, I promise.”

He grabbed her arm before she could whip out of sight, “Please, if you think you know who it might be, let me help. Then we can keep both of our crews updated and stop a war happening.”

She turned back to him, tears still swimming in her eyes. “Alright. But I need you to promise that you’ll trust what I’m doing. No sudden movements unless I say so.”

He nodded. “You have my word.”

“Okay. Then I’m going to need some of your gear.”

\----

Meg’s fingers were still shaking as she typed a text to a distraught Burnie.

_Meg: It wasn’t Fake AH. I’m getting proof now._

_Burnie: How do you know?_

_Meg: I have intel from my job._

_Burnie: Keep me updated. The crew wants revenge so you’ll need solid proof it wasn’t them._

_Meg: I’ll get it. Don’t worry._

_Burnie: Alright. Stay safe._

Once that was dealt with she dialled up Gavin as Ryan was getting her the equipment from downstairs.

“Meg, are you okay? I heard about the attack and Jinx.” Gavin’s voice came through the other line in a blur of worry and Meg was slightly touched by the young detective’s concern.

“Physically, I’m fine. Vagabond got me out of there.”

“Are you with him now?” She practically hear him tense with the knowledge that she was mere feet from a dangerous criminal (even if he seemed to ignore the fact that she was also a trained and dangerous criminal – but that happened once you get to know people).

“He’s downstairs getting some things ready.”

“Why haven’t you, y’know done him in?” Gavin hissed down the line. “Especially because of what _they_ did.”

She swallowed. “It’s complicated. But Fake AH didn’t do it.”

“Explain.”

“I’m going to need to talk to you about this in person, Gavin. Urgently – meaning now.” Gavin began to squawk but she cut him off before he could offer any argument. “You don’t want a war between the two gangs, yes? So you’ll meet with me right now in our usual spot. I’ll be there in ten.”

Then she hung up. Still shaking. God, how was she going to pull this off?

\----

Meg tapped her fingers on the wheel of the car nervously as Ryan sat next to her.

“So who are we meeting exactly?” he inquired, playing with his mask in his hands.

She glanced down at it, “You probably don’t want to wear that if you don’t want to get shot.”

“Comforting.”

“It’s just- Look. He’s a… friend of sorts of mine and he’s loyal to Fake AH even if he doesn’t know it,” she tried to explain. When she saw Ryan’s perplexed look she asked him, “Has your boss Kingpin, or rather, Ramsey ever told you about his time in London?”

Ryan’s eyebrows furrowed, “I don’t think so.”

“Well, you know about how our bosses used to work together back in the 2000s?”

“Yes, and then they split in 2003.”

“Yeah, well a year later Ramsey went off to London to regroup and find new talent to make the new Fake AH Crew strong. When he was there he met my friend, Gavin, who was around eighteen at the time. They were close, like family. Gavin had ditched his biological family years ago so he looked up to Ramsey like a father figure. Ramsey decided to stay in London for a couple of years and build up power there. But in 2006 a heist went wrong and both Gavin and Ramsey were seriously injured. They were taken in by the police and treated there. Luckily they survived but both Gavin and Ramsey were told that the other one didn’t. Ramsey, angry and filled with grief broke out of government control and went on the run - eventually returning to Los Santos. But Gavin… he fell apart. He’d lost his only family and the government took advantage of that. That’s why they had told them that the other had died, in hopes of manipulating them into their power. You following so far?”

“Yeah, yeah I think so. So they wanted Gavin and Ramsey to work for them by making them feel that is why their fault for their friend’s death?”

“Yes and no. They knew it was too late for Ramsey, they were just going to lock him up. But Gavin was young, and they wanted his talent. They were sick of being pushed around by criminals.”

“So this Gavin we’re meeting – he works for the police?”

She nodded. “He and I are technically working together. He was going to arrest me – still don’t know how the asshole found me – but I convinced him that it would be more helpful to him to let me take you down and give you to him so he could arrest you. Obviously that plan has changed now and he’ll realise that once I introduce you. But it’s like I said, once he learns that Ramsey is alive he won’t do anything until he sees him face to face.”

“You’re betting on his potentially volatile emotions?” Ryan asked her, sounding concerned.

She shrugged. “It’s the best I’ve got for now. And it’s also why we’re wearing bullet proof vests under this.”

“Okay, so how is he going to help us?”

“He’s getting us the evidence. I wager that the police did this. They have a history of playing with criminals’ emotions to achieve their aim so why not do it again?”

Ryan nodded, “Alright. Okay, I _guess_ it could work?”

“Thank you, Ryan, for your eternal optimism.”

“Hey, I’m a guy who rides around the city setting people alight with flare guns whilst wearing a skull mask, I’m not known for my optimism,” he countered and Meg laughed, some colour returning to her cheeks.

\----

Pulling up to their familiar spot she could already see Gavin pacing outside his car. Meg turned to Ryan and told him, “Stay in the car.” For a moment he looked like he might argue, but thought better of it and nodded.

She climbed out of the car and slammed the door closed, Gavin’s green eyes already fixed upon the flashy car she had arrived in. He made no move towards her, cautiously peering into the tinted windows. When she reached him he immediately demanded, “Is _he_ in there?”

Meg nodded. “But before you say anything I need to tell you something.”

Gavin sighed, clearly aggravated. “What kind of bloody game are you playing with me, Meg? I have a _job_ to do and so do you. I don’t have time for this bollocks, we made a deal so pay up. Why are you protecting this wanker?”

“Gavin, please just listen. You’ll want to protect the Fake AH Crew too once I-“

“ _Protect_ Fake AH?!” he squawked, “The people who have made my life a misery, who nearly _killed_ your friend!”

“ _They_ didn’t do anything,” she bit back, “but _your_ fucking police department did.”

Gavin faltered, clearly not expecting the conversation to take a turn against him. “W-What?”

“And you’re going to get me the proof,” she said firmly, though her voice was shaking. Even more she could practically feel Ryan getting antsy in the car, any moment now he might burst out, hoping to intervene.

“I reiterate my earlier statement, Meg; why in God’s name would I help protect the name of the-“

“Because Geoff Ramsey is alive,” she said bluntly, at the end of her patience. She felt bad for the lack of sugar coating but they really didn’t have time.

Gavin’s face blanched. Then his cheeks flushed red with fury, his fingers moving towards his gun. “I told you not to fucking play games with me.”

“Hey,” a voice boomed from behind her. _There it is._ Gavin looked up at Ryan, his eyes narrowing upon seeing the infamous Vagabond’s face for the first time. He looked the older man up and down and Meg knew that, much like with her, Ryan was not what Gavin had expected. “She’s telling the truth.”

The Brit clenched his jaw, his hand falling away from his gun as he realised that he would be a fool to try and take out both of them.

“Gavin,” Meg said softly, moving towards him, “I promise you that I’d never sell you false hope like that. Your friend never died because of you. The government told you lies, and they told Ramsey that _you_ had died thus why he never came looking for you. And to be fair, the government did put you on the listings of the dead so that you could live a new life.”

“How… How does this tie in with Fake AH?” Gavin asked weakly.

Meg felt Ryan’s presence behind her as he said, “Because Geoff Ramsey is a good friend of mine-“ Gavin’s eyes widened. “-and he’s also my boss.”

“You don’t have to make any decisions now,” Meg told a very shaky looking Gavin, “you can see him first.”

“I..I think I need a minute,” he told them so quietly they barely heard it. Meg nodded sympathetically as Gavin stumbled to their usual rock and sat down on it.

Ryan squeezed her shoulder comfortingly and said softly, “You handled it well.”

“I am a professional,” she teased offhandedly as she surveyed Gavin. When she thought he’d had enough time to think she told Ryan – once again – to stay behind so she could go and talk to him.

When she sat herself down next to him he immediately asked her, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“You know why.” _I needed you loyal to me, not them._

Gavin ran his hands through his hair. “This is so fucked up. Everything… my whole life for nearly the past decade… just lies.” He threw a rock aimlessly. It tumbled into the sand.

Meg reached over and took his free hand, tracing circles with her thumb. “It wasn’t right what they did. But I should’ve told you sooner. Not just when it was convenient for me.”

He shook his head, “Nah, you had a job to do. And anyway, I’m just an intervening detective, you don’t owe me anything.”

“As a detective I don’t owe you anything, but as my friend? I do,” she told him firmly.

He barked a dry laugh. “Bloody hell our lives are fucked up. We could be in a sitcom.”

Meg smiled, “Yeah, I’ve managed to royally screw up this mission. I made friends with both the cop who tried to arrest me and my target. I swear I’m usually so much better than this.”

“Seems like you and Vagabond are more than just friendly,” Gavin noted, his voice slightly tight. Meg’s pursed her lips at this comment. It was true but she could really deny the fact that her relationship with Gavin was also more than just a little bit friendly?

\----

Ryan watched Meg and the detective from afar, making sure the Brit wasn’t going to suddenly blow a fuse. He couldn’t figure out if he trusted him or not, but when he had first looked the guy in the eyes something had sparked within him and he couldn’t tell what that meant.

As he watched the way Gavin seemed to relax as Meg took his hand in hers, a dull roar of jealousy echoed in Ryan’s mind like white noise but there was another part of him which didn’t mind too much. He and Meg were not exclusive, they were barely a thing to begin with – and anyway, she seemed to like the tousled-looking Brit so why should Ryan stop her from any potential happiness?

And with that uncommonly selfless thought Ryan began to wonder – how far deep did his feelings for Meg run?

But he wasn’t given time to think, Meg and Gavin had risen from their perch and were walking towards them. Gavin, looking understandably suspicious of him whilst Meg sent him a bright smile.

“Hey,” she said as she approached him, “can you call Geoff and arrange to meet him? Gavin says he wants to see his reaction when he finds out.”

Ryan paused, noticing how Gavin rocked back on forth on his heels, in a state of both overwhelming nervousness and excitement. “Sure. I’ll call him up but you both should probably leave all weapons behind when we go to meet him.”

After mild debate from Gavin, they both (reluctantly) agreed and Ryan dialled up his boss, still not quite sure how he was going to convince Geoff that this was a good idea.

“Hey, what’s up?” Geoff’s voice blared through his phone. That man really didn’t know the definition of the word ‘volume control’.

“Uhm, well I have a request. Rather than me checking into base later I wondered if I could… introduce you to some people,” Ryan said slowly.

“What does ‘some people’ mean?”

“Ah, well… It’s meant to be a ‘surprise’, I guess?”

“Jesus _Christ_ , what a bloody mong,” Gavin cried, snatching Ryan’s phone out his hand and saying, “It’s me. I’m the surprise. Gavino Free, in the flesh.”

“Hey!” Ryan protested but Gavin ignored him, an excited grin rising on the Brit’s face.

“Yeah, yeah I’m alive. I thought _you_ were dead!” Gavin let out off a loud laugh (and he’d deny it later on but Ryan definitely noticed that his eyes were shining). “Okay, alright. I’ll get the grumpy one to drive me there.”

Knowing that Gavin was referring to him, Ryan glared at him. “The ‘grumpy one’ won’t be driving you anywhere with that lack of respect.”

But Gavin shot him a wink, hanging up the phone and handing it back to him before saying, “Geoff wants you to drive me to base.”

“Is he aware that we have Meg here?” Ryan snapped. “Because I don’t think he’ll be too happy with her knowing the whereabouts of the Fake AH base.”

“Blindfold me,” Meg interrupted. Both men snapped around to look at her. Their minds instantly diving into the gutter. She rolled her eyes (but there was a small smirk on her lips), “Not in a kinky way, idiots. If you blindfold me in the car and then take it off once we’re inside the base I won’t know where it is.”

Gavin looked at the ground, blushing furiously whilst Ryan shrugged and said, “Sure. I think I have a blindfold in the car or something.”

\----

The car ride there was fun, or rather, weird. Ryan couldn’t decide between the two. Since Gavin’s conversation with Geoff there was something different about him. Obnoxiously different. He was a lot peppier which meant a lot of –

“What does that do?”

“Don’t touch that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so.”

“Meg,” Gavin whined to the blind-folded red-head sitting in the back of the car.

She sighed. “Behave, Gavin.” Ryan caught the reflection of her in his rear-view mirror and chuckled to himself. The whole blind-folded thing just added to the amusing weirdness of the whole car journey.

“Can I press this button?”

“Not a chance.”

“C’mon, this is the first time I’ve been in a fancy car like this in _years_ -“

“Okay then Gavin, press the ejector seat button. I’d love to see your dumb ass fly into the air,” Ryan interrupted him, agitated with the childishness of this would-be-detective. He was beginning to understand why the government had repressed the care-free side of him in the first place, it was pretty fucking annoying.

But Meg had unravelled their work and Ryan was watching it happen. Watching as the small box Gavin had been in the past couple years crumbled to ashes at his feet to reveal the true world with all its colour, excitement and fancy sports cars. Ryan could see things changing within Gavin, even in this small space of time. He began to wonder exactly who Gavin had been before his world went dark and what kind of furious glory this criminal might return to if he was given the chance.

And Ryan wanted to give him that chance. He wanted the LSPD to see hell and he was damn sure that Gavin was it.

\----

Gavin and Meg giggled as the Brit pulled her along, through the base. “I’m pretty sure she can take the blind-fold off now,” Ryan called behind as he led them towards the major conference room. “If the guys let us in with her then I’m sure it’s okay.”

“But it’s like playing Blind Man’s Bluff!” Gavin replied happily, letting go of Meg so that she could blindly throw herself at him. (Which she succeeded at doing, toppling into his chest.)

Ryan rolled his eyes at them, what was it with criminals (and former criminals) and acting like children? _Probably the warped sense of morality._

“We’re here,” he said as they reached familiar large doors. Unlike what Gavin was probably expecting, their base was just the sub-level of Geoff’s beach side almost-but-not-really-mansion. Meaning instead of cold grey metal the area was decked with warm wood, and paintings and carvings his wife had created. Geoff’s argument was that if he was going to spend so much time in there, it might as well be homely.

Meg pulled the blindfold off of her head and flattened out her hair.

“You don’t have any weapons on you, right?” Ryan asked her.

“None that they will find,” she replied sweetly.

“Meg,” he warned, “my crew will not take kindly to you walking around here with a weapon. If you’re in here, it’s as a peaceful negotiate.” She narrowed his eyes at him and he raised her eyebrows at her.

The eventually she conceded. “Fine.” She pulled out a knife from her boot and a small explosive from inside her bra.

“Living dangerously,” Gavin noted.

She sent him a smug look, “It’s for the creeps who think visible cleavage is a form of consent.” Both men chuckled at this reply.

“I’ll go in first,” Ryan said, “Introduce you and tell you when to come in, okay?” They nodded. “Alright, let’s see how this goes.” He sent them a smile (mostly Meg, Gavin was still obnoxious and didn’t deserve a smile, mostly) before opening the doors where Geoff was anxiously waiting inside.

“Where is he?” his boss instantly demanded, looking over Ryan’s shoulder and catching a glance of Gavin’s unruly hair.

“He’s there, Geoff,” Ryan assured the impatient man. “But I brought someone else along. Who I should properly introduce you to.”

Geoff narrowed is eyes slightly. “Go on.”

“You remember the waitress from our bar?” A nod. “Well I have maybebeenseeingheralittlebit-“ A smirk. “-and she’s actually Two-Face.”

“And… And you’re telling me she’s in our base?” Geoff stammered.

Ryan nodded. “I’ve taken all of her weapons off her, even the concealed ones and she’s just here to escort Gavin – who she’s also friends with ‘cause he tried to arrest her.”

Geoff looked confused. “So the three of you are friends?”

“I guess?”

“Because she tried to eliminate you and Gavin tried to arrest her.”

“I… yeah.”

“And you’re pretty sure she’s not going to attack us?”

Ryan smiled, and shook his head. “She’s a pretty amazing criminal but she knows that she wouldn’t be able to get past us. Plus, she’s proven her genuine attachment towards both me and Gavin. If she wanted us dead we’d already be so.”

“And what if this is some ploy to get inside our base?”

“Then she would’ve done so weeks ago when she first came into contact with Gavin, rather than waited for when I, a pretty dangerous rival, was involved.”

“Alright, if you’re so sure, bring ‘em in,” Geoff said, aiming for nonchalant but ended up sounding rather ill.

Without Ryan even taking a step Gavin burst into the room (“Someone was listening at the door I see.”) and flung himself at Geoff, who laughed wholeheartedly and slapped Gavin fondly on the back. Meg entered a bit more hesitantly, moving to Ryan’s side as she watched the fond exchange with a smile on her face.

Geoff spied Meg and his grin faltered. Meg shifted nervously on her feet and as a sign of respect to him as the boss of Fake AH, she waited to be spoken to before saying a word. The older man told Gavin, “We’ll catch up later but I want a word with your friend. Privately.”

Both Ryan and Gavin open their mouths to protest but Geoff cut them off with the wave of his hand. “I need to speak to her without you two trying to defend her, she needs to prove her peaceful intentions on her own.”

“It’s fine,” Meg told them with a smile she clearly hoped was reassuring but to Ryan it came off more nervous. Gavin, also sensing her unease, frowned in response. “Go,” she said, a bit more firmly this time, “I’m a grown woman and you’re not my bodyguards.” Finally they relented. Casting one look back before going out the door.

“And no eavesdropping!” Geoff called after them, “that’s a fucking order, Ryan.”

Ryan muttered under his breath, grabbing Gavin by the arm and dragging him off to the break room. Gavin squawked indignantly but Ryan just snapped, “An order’s and order, Free. If that means babysitting you, by all means I’ll do it.”

\----

Meg, after being told to, sat down on the chair in front of Ramsey’s desk. He sat opposite her, his fingers folded together as he surveyed her. “So how did you fit into all of this?” he asked her and when she hesitated he said, “Look, I can see that those two both care about you so I’m not going to hurt you. But you understand that I need to know why I have a member of a rival crew sitting in my base.”

She nodded, “Of course. Well, I first came in contact with Ryan, as you know, through working at the bar. It was part of a job. But I’ve come to care about him and I don’t think I can fulfil that job any longer. Gavin tracked me down during my time at the bar and threatened to arrest me – him being a detective and all that. But I struck a deal with him saying that if he helped me with my job I’d let him reap some of the rewards,” she explained. “But as you can see we royally fucked up. I can’t fulfil my job because I care about Ryan and Gavin can’t fulfil his because he cares about me and won’t turn me in. The reason we’re here today is because of Jinx.” Geoff straightened in his chair. “Rooster Teeth is under the impression that your crew was behind the attack and now want to respond so reassert that we won’t be beaten down. But Ryan informed me that it would have been impossible for any of you to carry about an attack last night. Which leads me to believe it might be the police pulling the kind of tricks they did with you and Gavin by using our grief to complete their aim which would be destroying us.”

“And you’re going to use Gavin to confirm this?” he asked and Meg nodded. “And that’s why you told him of my existence, to put him on your side?”

“If anything I’ve put him on _your_ side, sir. It just so happens that your side coincides with my aims for today.”

Geoff frowned, “Why are you doing this? Why are you protecting my crew’s reputation?”

“Two reasons,” she responded, “both are for my own gain. Firstly, I want to punish the real attackers of my best friend, I don’t want to see them win. And secondly… I know that if there was a war between the crews I’d have to let go of Ryan. He’s loyal to you. I’m loyal to my crew. Some things are just facts.”

“You know, eventually things with him will have to end,” Geoff said seriously.

She nodded, a small sad smile on her face. “I know.”

His expression became sympathetic. “Well at least you know.”

\----

Ryan was tapping his foot impatiently, watching Gavin fuck about with the vending machine as he waited for Meg to return. He was almost a hundred percent sure Geoff wasn’t going to hurt her and that she wasn’t going to hurt him but he still worried. He could tell Gavin was on edge too from the way he impatiently slammed at the machine.

“If you break that, you’re paying,” Ryan told him.

Gavin scoffed, “Not with my salary I’m not.” 

Ryan cocked his head to the side. “So what are you going to do?”

“’Bout what?” he asked, still trying to find a way to get his chocolate bar out of the machine.

“Y’know, your job. You’re going to have to quit,” he said bluntly, “Unless you’re planning on turning in Geoff.”

Gavin stopped what he was doing. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about that. Never really thought of myself as on a different side to Geoff.”

“You’re not,” Ryan said, “If what Meg said was true you two are family. So you might as well give them your two-week notice.”

“Well I…” Gavin seemed to work this over in his head, looking increasingly frustrated as he did so. “I guess I can’t really work for the LSPD anymore. But what else would I do?”

Ryan shrugged. “Join the crew.” The Brit snapped around to give him an incredulous look. “What?” Ryan cried in protest, “You were a good criminal right? And you’re going to be involved in Geoff’s life so I figure it’s going to happen eventually.”

“I don’t think I can do that,” Gavin said quietly. And just before Ryan could question why Meg and Geoff appeared in the doorway.

“Right, this is how it’s going to go,” Geoff said, “Meg, for the purposes of clearing the name of the crew, is acting as a partner to us. That means she holds the same rights to protection and trust as our other hired partners whilst she is also banned from crew intel that goes outside the mission.”

Meg smiled gratefully before moving to sit down in front of her temporary leader. Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. _If her crew knew about this…_

But his thoughts were cut off by Geoff commanding the attention of the room to him again. “Your mission stands as this - that is if Gavin is willing to help us,” he added to the Brit, “- you are going to infiltrate the LSPD. It will be Gavin’s role to outright ask his colleagues or look through their system for information to confirm that it was the police department who attacked Jinx. If things go southward I need someone inside with him who won’t draw attention. Meg, with her talent for dressing up for the part, will play the role of a jittery woman who just got attacked. Gavin will say he brought her in to question her for what she saw. Ryan will be outside in a getaway vehicle, ready to race to a safe house if things go badly. But I’m hoping that they won’t.”

Meg and Ryan nodded whilst Gavin hugged himself, rubbing his arms nervously.

“Gavin, you know you don’t have to do this,” Ryan said. He could only imagine what it would feel like to be planning to go against the people he had worked so closely with over the past few years. At least Meg believed this was in her crew’s best interests but if Gavin did this he might as well be a traitor to them.

“No,” Gavin replied quickly, “I can do this. And anyway, they had it coming for what they did to me and Geoff.” Ryan nodded, impressed with the younger man’s resilience and glad that their moral compass seemed to some-what swing in similar ways. _Family, first._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know how you feel it's really appreciated - especially comments and kudos! 
> 
> Tell people about the fic and I will be forever grateful <3


	4. Four

Gavin was surprised by how easily he fell back into it. How easy he found it to bullshit to the guard at the front desk, telling her that Meg was a distressed woman who he needed to escort to his office.

“I thought you were off on a case, Detective,” the guard said, passing Meg a visitor badge.

Gavin made a noncommittal noise, “There are some things I need to handle in a secure environment.” He turned to Meg, focussing all of his attention on acting like she was a stranger and not someone who knew he preferred hot chocolate without whipped cream. “Follow me, miss.”

The redhead nodded and Gavin had to mask how impressed he was with her acting skills but then again, perhaps her nervous glances weren’t all part of the act. A police office wasn’t the homeliest environment for an infamous criminal.

He led them through a set of double doors and to Gavin’s office. He closed the door behind them and locked it. “Right,” she said as she passed him a small buzzer, “if things take a turn press this and I’ll be right in there. Your boss is who you’re seeing, right?”

“Yeah. Matt Hullum. His office is just down the corridor further. Whilst I’m in there you might as well snoop through my computer, see what you can hack into,” he told her as he tucked the buzzer into his jeans. He saw Meg pull out her phone and said, “You letting Ryan know we’re set up?” She nodded. “Okay, I’ll head over to his office now.”

Meg set him a reassuring smile and told him, “It’ll be fine. Just ask your questions and leave.”

Gavin smiled back, albeit weakly. “I know, Turney.”

“Hey,” she scolded him, “I gave you my surname because I trust you. Don’t abuse that trust!”

He grinned cheekily, “I’ll keep that in mind.” And with that he unlocked the door and tried to maintain the relaxed demeanour he’d gained from talking to Meg as he made the familiar walk up to Matt’s office. But everything felt so much different from before. Things that used to look comforting now seemed to swim with unease and distrust. How strange it was to think that the institution which had supported him had hurt him more than anyone.

Then before he knew it he was knocking on the door and he heard Matt bark, “Come in!” from the other side.

Gavin drew in a deep breath and pushed it open. Matt straightened in his chair as he took in Gavin’s jeans and t-shirt paired with a new layer of scruff on his face which only seemed to add to the feeling that he’d aged so much since first taking on this case. Meg had said that she liked it but maybe that was why – because it represented how much he had changed since meeting her, meeting The Vagabond and finally being reconnected Geoff. The thought of Geoff strengthened Gavin’s resolve as he wasted no time on pleasantries.

“I heard what happened to Jinx.”

Matt stiffened ever so slightly. “Yes, the whole city has I wager.”

“They say it was Fake AH,” Gavin said, watching Matt carefully, “but I don’t think it was them.”

Matt raised his eyebrows, “I thought you were under the belief that Fake AH wanted war with Rooster Teeth. An attack on one of their main sources of intel – that would certainly do it.”

“Yes, that’s how a cop would see it,” Gavin confirmed.

“What does that mean, Gavin?”

“I… I’m sorry, it’s just with all the research I’ve gotten in my investigation, it doesn’t seem like it was Fake AH’s best move,” Gavin said, running his hands through his hair.

Matt frowned. “Do you think someone else did it?”

Gavin rocked on his feet nervously, looking down to look at the floor. “We’ve been working together for years, Matt. If the police did this I have to know.”

“’ _Have_ ’ to know?” Matt repeated, a slight edge to his voice.

“Yes. We’re the LSPD, not some gang. We don’t keep big secrets like this from each other, Matt. We rely on the fact that we trust each other.”

“We _do_ trust each other,” Matt assured him, “Just as I have trusted you to get on with your investigation without straying-“ Gavin’s heart twinged. “-you should trust me in the fact that you know just as much as you need to know.”

“So that’s a yes.”

Matt sighed, finally conceding. “I can’t tell you much. You’re not cleared for this level of information. But until you’re successful with your case I can’t tell you everything.”

The Brit smiled crookedly, “Just one more question, Matt and I’ll go.”

“I can’t assure you that I can answer it.”

“That’s okay. I just-“ He laughed hollowly, “I don’t know why I even need to ask. You were probably in on it too. You probably knew the whole time.”

“Gavin, what are you-?“

“Yes or no,” Gavin interrupted sharply, “Did you know that Geoff Ramsey is alive?”

Matt’s eyes went wide, his face paled. And when Gavin saw him reach for his gun, Gavin pressed the buzzer in his pocket.

“That’s what I thought,” the Brit said coldly, “So it’s really no surprise that you tried to kill Jinx.”

“Gavin,” Matt said softly, “it was so many years ago. Look at what it’s done for you!”

“ _Done_ for me?!” Gavin snarled, “Years of mourning, always feeling like there’s a hole in my chest – that is what I have to be thankful for? No. No, look at what it’s done for _you,_ Matt.” The door behind them burst open and Matt pulled out his gun. He fired shots at Meg but he might as well not bothered. She was a flurry of movement, slamming his head into the desk and knocking him out cold before he could even brace himself.

Looking up from her victim, Meg gave Gavin a look. “What the fuck was that for? He wasn’t even attacking you.”

A dull sound of people reacting to the sound of gunshots resonated within the room.

Gavin shrugged. “He deserved it. C’mon let’s get out of here.” Meg raised at eyebrow at Gavin’s casual malice as Gavin took Matt’s gun from his hand and shot at the window, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. They carefully exited, avoiding the shards of glass. Once safely on the street, Meg grabbed Gavin’s arm and they moved quickly down an alleyway to where Ryan was waiting in the car for them.

The doors rolled backwards, revealing Ryan in his skull-mask, only the blue of his eyes visible. Meg and Gavin climbed into the car and then they shot off. Police sirens were already wailing behind them and Ryan sighed dramatically. “Can we really not do anything without a show?”

Meg laughed and said playfully, “We all know you love it, Rye.”

Ryan chuckled darkly before turning to Gavin and saying, “So? Was it a success?”

The Brit pulled a small recording device out from under his shirt and said, “If your equipment is all you made it out to be- this should be enough.”

“I can assure you that my equipment did not fail us. So if the human aspect of the mission was successful so was everything else,” Ryan replied as he threw the car around a tight bend. “Would you guys mind getting rid of some of these cops?”

“Sure!” Meg replied a little too cheerfully for Gavin.

“Oh,” Ryan seemed to realise his mistake, “if you don’t want to hurt them just shoot out their tires. But if there are any choppers following us – they have to go.” Gavin nodded solemnly, it wasn’t like he hadn’t called this upon himself. He wanted to show the LSPD what this kind of shitty behaviour would blow back in their faces.

On Meg’s side of the car the window shattered as she drove her elbow into it. Then she was pulling a gun out from under her seat and shooting back at the cars. Gavin gawped as he watched her expertly shoot the cops’ tires, not missing once. Upon seeing his amazed expression she shot him a filthy smirk, paired with a wink.

“Get going, Gav,” she said, nodding her head towards the weapon in his hand, “I can’t get them all alone.” He was pretty sure she could, but she wanted him to join in, and to be honest, he couldn’t deny that woman anything.

“Yeah, I’ll roll down the window for you,” Ryan said from the front, “because that’s an actual function in this car. No need to smash it.”

Meg giggled, “C’mon Rye, I know you enjoy melodrama just as much as me.”

“I’m just saying - do Rooster Teeth not have roll down windows? Are you guys that crap?” he teased. The tone of this voice weirdly juxtaposing with the horrifying mask he was wearing.

“Hey,” she warned, “I have a gun right now. You better watch your mouth, mister.” Ryan chuckled, pressing down the button to allow the dark windows on Gavin’s side to roll down to reveal the loud sound of police sirens and roaring engines.

“Don’t get shot in the arm,” Ryan said bluntly before turning back to his driving.

“That’s comforting,” Gavin muttered sarcastically before twisting around in his seat to look out the back window to aim properly. To be honest he wasn’t the best shot, never was. But he sure was good at causing chaos. Shattering shop windows, making civilians swerve into water pumps and causing the police to spin off course.

“Jesus, Gavin!” Ryan cried as he spied the destruction in the rear-view mirror. “Did you _mean_ to do that?!”

“Ah.. well…” Gavin mumbled, slightly embarrassed at his lack of skill compared to Meg.

But to his surprise both Meg and Ryan laughed excitedly. “No wonder Geoff likes you,” Ryan said, his voice booming through the car, “You’re a fucking mess.”

“And we like messes,” Meg told him, another flirty smirk on her face.

Ryan snorted and said to Gavin, “I’d like to make a point of saying that at Fake AH we don’t have orgies. Rooster Teeth however…”

Meg rolled her eyes, “Oh hush. We’ve lost the cops so take us to this safe house.”

“Aye, aye, cap’n!” Ryan replied cheerily.

Gavin laughed at Ryan’s somewhat erratic personality. “You’re a weird bloke, you know that Ryan?”

Two blue eyes looked at him through the rear-view mirror – “It’s part of my charm.”

\----

When they entered the safe house Geoff was already there waiting for them.

“So did you get it?”

“You betcha!” Gavin chirped. Ryan watched him try and fail to unhook the recorder from inside his shirt before sighing and walking over and doing it himself.

Gavin squawked indignantly at Ryan’s intrusive hands but the older man just muttered, “Keep it in your pants.” To which Gavin flushed red and Meg giggled. A small smirk played on Ryan’s lips at the ability to fluster Gavin - it seemed like a fair prize after having to suffer through a day of slowly realising that he was actually attracted to the idiot. That attraction reaching dangerous levels after seeing the destruction the young man could do.

Once he had the recording device in his hands, Ryan spared him one final smug look before handing it to a wildly amused Geoff.

“That should have the evidence you need,” Meg told him. “If I grab a copy of it I can bring it back to my crew.”

The crime lord nodded, “Sounds good. I must say Meg, you’ve impressed me. I have expected this to an elaborate ploy but Ryan was right, you’ll keep your word.”

Meg smiled briefly, “Of course, sir. I rarely give my word in this line of work but when I do, I mean it.”

“I’ll remember that,” he responded, “But I doubt we’ll have much opportunity to work together. Your crew won’t be happy with you if they find out that you’ve worked under my instruction.”

Out of the corner of Ryan’s eye he saw Gavin’s stiffen and frown. Almost as if he had forgotten that Meg didn’t belong with them, that she was their rival. “But they don’t have to find out,” Gavin replied hastily.

Weakly, she smiled at him, a mixture of affection and sadness. “They’re my family, Gav. And they’re going to need to know that I didn’t just make this up. Of course I’ll leave out the fact that I’ve been in Fake AH’s base but they’ll know.” The Brit opened his mouth to argue but Meg interrupted, “You gave up your career for this and I’m eternally grateful, but now I must face the punishment for my crimes.”

“Meg,” Geoff said, interrupting the scene between her and Gavin, “You know if… If you’re ever out of a job, you have one here.”

Ryan’s gaze snapped to Geoff’s, they hadn’t taken on anyone new in two years. Meg also seemed to know the weight of this offer and looked truly touched. “Thank you, sir. I’ll be in touch if that ever is the case.”

Geoff nodded. “I’ll get you that copy of the recording.”

Once he had left the room Gavin immediately rushed to her, urging her to stay with them. “It’s too dangerous to go back! They’ll think you’re a traitor, they’ll-“

“Treat me as I deserve,” Meg said solemnly. “I _am_ a traitor. I purposefully disobeyed my orders to kill Ryan, I made a deal with a detective and worked with the Fake AH Crew behind their back because I was too impatient to wait for approval. All of that adds up to a whole lot of betrayal. I deserve whatever I have coming.”

Ryan watched from afar, his arms folded tightly. If not for her feelings towards him she wouldn’t have been in this position. He had ignored her worries that night they had spent together and had doomed her to exile.

“Meg,” he finally said, his voice slightly strained, “I’m sorry.”

Her gaze softened as she took in his state of torture. “It’s not your fault, Ryan. I’m just glad I was able to delay whatever war is to come and to show Gavin who he really is.”

At mention of his name, Ryan turned to look at the Brit. After his stunt earlier he would be a wanted criminal again. His normal life was over and Ryan wondered if Gavin had really thought of the implications of his actions when he did it.

Almost reading Ryan’s mind Gavin said, “I don’t regret it either. I’m glad I’m finally with my family again.”

“Then it was worth it,” she told them both, still holding that bittersweet smile as Geoff returned with a USB. “I’ll be in contact soon. I don’t know how but I will. I’ll let you know how I am.”

“Promise?” Gavin insisted.

“Promise,” she assured him before taking the USB from Geoff. She thank him before walking back over to Gavin and Ryan and pressing a kiss on both of their cheeks. “Promise me you’ll stay safe?” she asked them.

“Promise,” they answered.

Then she sent them one last smile before walking out the door.

\----

Meg sat patiently in front of Burnie’s desk. He had been in the medical facilities watching over a now stabilised Ashley (‘ _Thank God’_ ) and was coming to meet her after letting him know that she had proof. Combined information from the recording Gavin did and the snooping she did on their computers let he know that it was indeed the LSPD who were to blame for her tears that morning.

The door thudded open behind her and she stood up. Burnie, looking tired, nodded at her. “You got it?” he asked gruffly.

She held out the two USBs, one holding the recording and the other classified files. “This should confirm that the LSPD are responsible.”

Burnie thanked her, taking the USBs and placing them on his desk before settling in his chair. “That should do nicely. But I have to be honest, Meg, the distance we’ve been keeping from Fake AH is growing smaller and smaller every day and I think a lot of our crew don’t care _who_ did it, as long as it gives them an excuse to butt heads with Fake AH.”

Meg sank back down onto her chair. “I see.”

Burnie looked her up and down for a second. “How did you get access to this information?”

“I have a contact who recently worked for the LSPD and he was willing enough to help me out,” she explained.

“I didn’t know you had a contact in the police,” he said, perplexed.

“I… It was a recent development.”

Burnie seemed to sense her unease. “How recently did he work for the LSPD?”

“Um… up until today.”

“So this guy quit his job to help you?”

Meg dropped her gaze and confessed quietly, “It was a bit more complicated than that. He had other reasons. These reasons will become apparent on the recording. As well as who exactly I was with.”

Burnie frowned. He had been working with Meg for too long not to recognise the nervous guilt on her face and the way she wrung her fingers and refused to meet his eye. “Who _were_ you working with, Meg?”

Her brown eyes looked up at him through her long eyelashes. Blurry with unshed tears and her cheeks flushed with nervousness. Her heart thrummed in her chest and in her ears and a sick sense of remorse swirled in her stomach.

Finally, she let out a sigh and told him - “I made a deal with Geoff Ramsey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Unfortunately, posting may become a bit erratic in the next couple of weeks. Combined with literally no time to keep ahead of writing and being away from home most of the time (whether that be on a course or on holiday) I can't promise consistent updates. I'm so, so sorry. I was expecting to be done with the fic by 20K but it keeps getting longer and longer and I'm falling behind. 
> 
> Hope you all still love me <3


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When we collide, we come together.

In the period of Meg’s radio silence, Gavin went through a serious readjustment. He faced an odd sense of déjà vu at seeing his face flash up on the news reports that illuminated Ryan’s TV. (Geoff hadn’t a spare room for Gavin so Ryan offered his guest bedroom.) All sorts of information about Gavin’s past were emerging as there was an investigation into the LSPD and the police in London to how and why they let a criminal into their ranks and why it was kept to secret. Watching the nervous and uncomfortable expressions of his former colleagues gave Gavin a soothing sense of justice for the pain they put him, Geoff and now Meg through.

There was no news from the Rooster Teeth Crew at all. No news on Jinx and no news towards Meg’s fate. When he asked Ryan about it, the older man tried to shrug it off saying, “There’s not much we can do but wait.” But he could tell by Ryan’s sleepless nights that he too worried for the future and the consequences of Meg’s actions. They had little to no idea how Rooster Teeth worked and how seriously Meg might be treated as a traitor, especially in a time of high stress.

But he managed to keep himself distracted. Geoff was eager to get him to join the crew which meant a lot of training and a lot of meeting new people. Which wasn’t entirely a bad thing. The crew members seemed easy-going enough (finding a special kindred connection with Michael “Mogar” Jones) but it still seemed weirdly surreal to be standing in a room of people he would have arrested a week ago.

Ryan, who oddly seemed to feel responsible for Gavin, offered to be his personal trainer. Everyone else was busy working for a heist that Ryan wasn’t needed for which meant a lot of hours spent with the blond.

This proved to be a problem for Gavin. It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed how attractive Ryan was before – _have you seen those eyes_? But seeing the man in his element- with a sheen of sweat across his face, in a dark grey vest and a fierce intensity in his eyes – that was something else entirely. Gavin found himself watching him as Ryan would muss up his hair, his fingers raking through his blond locks. And with his arms exposed Gavin could really admire the toned muscle of his biceps and-

Gavin crashed to the floor as he misjudged Ryan’s well-timed kick to the shins. His trainer shook his head as he looked down at Gavin, and annoyance bubbled under Gavin’s skin. ‘ _It’s not my bloody fault you’re so attractive,_ ’ he thought to himself bitterly.

“What was that?” Ryan asked and Gavin felt heat flush to his cheeks.

_Shit. “_ Uh- nothing. I was just annoyed,” he spluttered. Ryan watched him for a moment and Gavin was pretty sure that he had heard Gavin’s comment but instead of pursuing the subject Ryan offered him a hand.

“C’mon, let’s shower and get some lunch,” he said, hauling Gavin’s aching body to its feet.

“Mhmm,” Gavin hummed in agreement, trying to shake off his embarrassment as Ryan made his way towards the changing room, “I could do with a hot shower.”

“Not a cold one?” Ryan called back to him. Gavin didn’t need to see his face to know the shit-eating-grin he was wearing. The Brit swore under his breath. Yeah, Ryan had _absolutely_ heard him.

\----

_Ryan: Meg your pet is making moves on me._  
_Ryan: It’s annoying._  
 _Ryan: Even if it is fun to wind him up._

Ryan stared down at his phone as he waited for Gavin to finish up with his shower. He knew that it was unlikely she would respond but he still liked having that connection to her. That she at least knew they were fine and that they missed her.

He couldn’t remember when he and Gavin had become a collective entity.  

\----

 “Hmm, what about Rye-bread?” Gavin chirped.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, thoroughly unamused. He was halfway through his sandwich, a sandwich he was enjoying in _peace,_ until a perky Brit had decided to play the ‘Let’s annoy Ryan’ game. “Rye-bread?” he repeated back to him, “Is that meant to be a joke?”

Gavin frowned. “Meg calls you ‘Rye’, why can’t I call you ‘Rye-bread’?”

Ryan tried to keep his face straight at the broken-hearted looking Gavin but he felt a smile tugging at his lips. “You’re insufferable,” he told him, “You’re lucky Meg likes you or I’d dump you on the street.”

Gavin gave him a toothy grin, “Nah, you wouldn’t do that, Rye-bread.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you like me too,” he pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ryan grunted in response, not nearly cruel enough to deny Gavin that one fact. At Ryan’s submission the Brit’s eyes lit up. But Gavin seemed to be in a merciful mood so he left Ryan to, once again, enjoy his sandwich in peaceful silence.

\----

Gavin had to admit, he missed his bed. It seemed like a strange need since he was sleeping on a bed twice as expensive as his own but he supposed it was home-sickness. Ryan had accommodated him the best he could by buying Gavin his usual toothpaste, shower gel, etc - but he missed his bed.

So much so he started getting random bouts of insomnia. Where Ryan would wake up in the morning and find Gavin sitting there drinking some strong coffee. The blond would frown at his house-guest before fixing himself his own drink.

It was after a few days of Gavin getting progressively worse at training that Ryan finally let out a long sigh. He gave Gavin a withering look before grabbing the Brit by the arm and dragging him into the weapons room.

“W-what are we doing?” Gavin asked blearily as Ryan passed him a bullet proof vest. It was nearly ten o’clock in the evening, Gavin wanted to finish up for the day, not start a whole new training exercise.

“You’re having trouble sleeping, yes?” Ryan demanded. He nodded. “Well we’re going to break into your home and steal your pillows, blankets and any other valuables the police haven’t taken.”

“I thought my apartment was under strict surveillance and it was too dangerous to go in,” Gavin spluttered.

“It is. But if you’re really feeling that homesick, it’s worth the risk,” Ryan explained to him, weighing up one of his favourite knives. A soft sort of smile tugged at Gavin’s lips as he wondered where along the way he’d earned this man’s consideration.

\----

Ryan padded down Gavin’s bullet proof armour, checking that there weren’t any weak spots. Even though there wouldn’t have been. “You ever jumped out of a flying vehicle before?” the criminal inquired.

Gavin shook his head nervously, “Not yet.”

He was sent a wicked grin in response. “Well, you always remember your first.” Gavin raised his eyebrows, glad that the darkness of the helicopter concealed his blush.

“So… how are we doing this again?” the Brit asked wearily.

“Nothing too difficult. Some guys downtown owe me a favour so they’ll perform a little distraction. When that happens the guards will disperse and Jack will fly us down level with your apartment window. We shoot the windows, we jump through them. We grab all of your stuff and head to the roof where Jack will have the chopper ready for us,” Ryan told him.

“Well if Jack can land on the rooftop, why doesn’t she do that in the first place?”

“Ah… well…”

Jack called from the front of chopper – “Because Ryan likes to be melodramatic!”

Ryan scowled at her before pulling on his grey skull-mask. Gavin felt a shiver run down his spine at Ryan’s imitation of the Grim Reaper but the blue-eyes that stared out from behind them served as a sharp contrast, washing away the dread and filling Gavin with eagerness and a desire to impress. (Which often finished with him face-first on the floor.)

In the background there was the sound of gunshots and Ryan’s phone buzzed from inside his vest. “That’s our cue,” the Vagabond told him, winking as he did so. From the front of the chopper Jack launched into action, steering the chopper down from the clouds which concealed them to hover outside Gavin’s apartment.

Working off of a familiar rush of adrenaline, Gavin had his gun up and was shooting even before Ryan. The glass fractured and shattered and before he knew it Ryan had wrapped his arm around Gavin’s waist and then they were jumping, hurling themselves into the dimly-lit room. Ryan’s strong grip was lost as they landed. Ryan tumbling and launching to his feet with a gymnast’s grace whilst Gavin stumbled to his. They heard Gavin’s front door being banged on, guards shouting for their comrades to reply. That’s when the Brit noticed the lifeless corpses on the ground below them. They must have unknowingly been sprayed with their bullets.

“Collateral damage,” Ryan shrugged. “How about you grab stuff and put it in the duffle bags whilst I make sure no one bothers us.”

Gavin nodded, and rushed down the corridor to his bedroom. He winced as he pulled out some stray shards of glass from his hand but it was hardly anything he couldn’t handle. As he walked along he grabbed random bits and bobs but nothing much of sentimental value. He had lived a pretty isolated life before all of this so his main priority was grabbing his favourite shirts and his pillows. There was no way they could drag his bed out but having his pillows would bring a sense of comfort. (And besides, he liked Ryan’s goose feather duvet.)

Once he had successfully gathered all that he wanted he heard Ryan yell, “Time to go, Gavin!” followed by a series of gunshots. Perhaps Gavin should have felt guilty that these were his previous colleagues being shot down but he didn’t. Joining Meg and Ryan’s world was like walking to the other side of mirror where the good guys are the bad guys, and bad guys actually care about you. He felt so much more at ease in this mirror-world that when he re-joined Ryan, who was slamming someone’s head into the doorframe, Gavin helped him out by shooting the other officer who had his gun pointed at Ryan’s head.

The Vagabond, who was startled at the sudden gunshot, jerked around to look at Gavin. Once he saw the weapon in the Brit’s hand Gavin could see his face light up just from his eyes. A dark chuckle echoed from the mask and the way Ryan was looking at him made his senses tingle. Without turning back to his victim, the blond dropped the man to the floor. A bloodstain lining Gavin’s doorframe. They hadn’t broke eye contact. And Gavin had the strangest urge to rip Ryan’s mask off and kiss away the smirk that was undoubtedly all over his lips.

But the dull sound of sirens and feet storming up the stairs drew their attention away. “Best not to keep Jack waiting,” Ryan said. Gavin nodded, not trusting his own voice as he tried to erase the image of Ryan flushed up against him.

Gavin led them down the hall to the staircase which the police were currently charging up. He raced up the stairs whilst Ryan behind him threw tears gas and small explosives. Finally they burst in to the cool evening where the sound of a chopper blasted through the air. Ryan and Gavin launched themselves, running side by side. Ryan reached the vehicle first, holding out his hand so that he could drag Gavin up with him.

With the touch of Ryan’s calloused fingers against his, more and more images flooded Gavin’s mind. He gasped and stumbled into the chopper. The floor beneath them lurched as Jack took off, not caring if the boys toppled over. There was no way she was letting her baby get damaged.

With the sudden lurch Gavin and Ryan lost their footing. Whilst Ryan was used to her impromptu take-offs and took hold of one of the handles which hung from the ceiling, Gavin was not. Ryan, realising that Gavin could easily fall out of the side of attack vehicle, grabbed him around the waist and hauled him towards him.

“Christ!” Gavin cried as he thudded against Ryan’s chest and felt himself go bright red at the intimacy. The older man seemed unfazed, maintaining his secure hold on Gavin for the many minutes which followed in which the chopper was rocked with explosions and the peppering of police fire.

“Ryan, could you handle that other chopper?” their pilot asked from the front.

He nodded, “Sure thing.” Then before Gavin knew it he was being strapped into one of the seats near Jack and Ryan was walking off, rocket launcher perched on his shoulder. As Gavin watched him fire he heard Jack cheer happily behind him, and the Brit slowly put two-and-two together.

There was no reason for Ryan to have held him so close for that long. If was that easy to get him to a secure seat Ryan should’ve done it immediately. He wasn’t a man who wasted time he didn’t have to so why did he keep him there for so long?

Ryan’s gaze flickered over to Gavin. Gavin dropped his gaze.

_Why did he keep falling for the most dangerous people?_

\----

They were oddly silent as they rode up the elevator to Ryan’s apartment. Gavin had the duffle bag slung over his shoulder, the weight of it making it ache dully. Ryan rocked on his feet, focusing on the screen which told them that they were slowly rising to his floor.

Gavin was itching to get his hands on him. Dying to feel their bodies up against one another again. To see Ryan shirtless and not have to avert his eyes, to kiss his scars and be kissed so hard he forgot his own name. He was just opening his mouth to say something when the elevator pinged. The doors creaked open and revealed a tired looking Meg Turney.

Ryan was scooping her up into his arms before Gavin could properly register that it was really her and not some figment of his imagination. She grinned at him as Ryan released her from his hug, and with eagerness she threw herself into his chest. He stroked her hair and let his eyes flutter close, memorising the feeling of her petite body in his arms.

When they finally broke free Ryan had a strange look on his face.

Gavin checked her over, looking for any marks or bruises that would indicate any grievances apart from her tiredness – but she seemed fine. Meg noted his concern and explained, “I’m on probation. Had some of my freedoms stripped so I can’t access high-level intel anymore. But if I behave, it’ll only be temporary.” The men nodded along with her, both noticing the sad lilt to her voice. “But I hear you two got up to some fun, tonight,” she said, changing to subject as a grin rose on her lips.

Ryan gave a shrug, “Gavin was feeling homesick.”

She smiled affectionately at the older man, a knowing look behind her eyes. “I hope he wasn’t giving you too much trouble.”

“Oi,” Gavin squawked, “I’ve been an angel!”

Ryan raised his eyebrows in disbelief and Meg let out a giggle. “I’ll believe that when I see it, Gavino.”

Whilst the Brit huffed, Ryan turned his attention back to the small red-head. “Can I get you anything? Some coffee, a meal?”

“A strong drink would be helpful,” she admitted, “If you have any of course.”

“With Gavin living with me, I’ve got a whole array of booze now.”

Gavin ignored that jibe to focus on relaxing his nerves. His body still hummed with excitement and a desire for touch. His eyes were traced on Ryan as he open up a cupboard and sifted through it, and then on Meg as her fingers brushed over his as she gratefully took a drink.

A part of him felt like he was intruding as he caught the looks between Ryan and Meg. But another part of him felt oddly torn. There were the two people he couldn’t stop thinking and dreaming about and it was a peculiar situation to be in to be wanting two people at once and having them both at his fingertips. It seemed wrong to flirt with Ryan because of Meg and wrong to flirt with Meg because of Ryan – like he was deceiving them. But logically he knew it wasn’t like that because he hadn’t a place with them regardless. Meg and Ryan were already a working unit. He could see it by the way she pushed his messy hair away from his face to take a look at the bruise forming at his temple. He could see it from the way his hand rested on her hip as she did so.

Gavin’s train of thought was broken by Meg calling his name. “Your hands are a mess,” she pointed out to him, nodding towards the gashes in his hands.

“Must’ve been the window,” Ryan mused, slightly apologetically. “I guess that dramatic entrance wasn’t the best of ideas.”

The Brit chuckled weakly, “Nah, it was good, Rye. Bloody dramatic, but fun.”

“You want a drink, Gav?” Meg asked, letting Ryan’s fingers fall from her hips. (He couldn’t help but notice.)

He shook his head, “I’m knackered, I think I’ll try and get some sleep.”

Meg frowned, but she could see it wasn’t a lie – the bags under his eyes were evidence enough – so she gave no argument. Ryan smiled, albeit softly, and bid him a good night, giving Gavin his cue to leave them alone.

\----

Ryan watched the Brit shuffle down the hallway and out of side, dragging the duffle bag with him and he couldn’t help but mimic Meg’s disappointed expression.

“I was hoping we could celebrate together,” she said sadly. He turned back to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead, relishing in the ability to be so close to her.

“He’s had a rough couple of weeks,” he told her, “And tonight… I think he’s still struggling with the culture shock.”

“What happened tonight?”

“He shot someone without hesitation. And afterwards he didn’t look remorseful - he looked empowered.” Ryan paused. “And that’s how _we_ want him, that’s how it was always meant to be but… I’m just waiting for the moment he realises how much he’s changed,” Ryan said. “And I’m worried it won’t look pretty.”

Her frown deepened. “I knew he would readjust quickly but I didn’t think it would be this quick. What made him shoot?”

“I… He was protecting me, I guess,” Ryan replied, aiming for offhand but he couldn’t deny that seeing Gavin fight for him was… special.

Meg suddenly chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief as she did.

“What?” Ryan demanded.

“I leave you two alone for a few weeks and you manage to completely fall for each other?” she teased, a bright grin stretching across her face.

“I..I- that’s not how-“ he stammered, thrown by how completely okay with it she sounded. Meg laughed again and then cut off his stammering by capturing his mouth in a kiss. A kiss which soon evolved into her being lifted onto the counter, her legs wrapping around his waist.

“You’re a god damn mystery, Turney,” he told her, his breath heavy as she kissed down his neck. “I can’t figure you out.”

She giggled again, grabbing his ass to rock their hips together. He groaned softly, his fingers knotting in her hair. “How long can you stay?” he asked her.

“I have to leave in the next hour,” she admitted ruefully, “Otherwise they’ll start to get suspicious.”

“That’s long enough,” he shrugged, moving to unbutton her jeans but she swatted his hands away.

“Nu-uh. Not until you admit that you like Gavin,” she said firmly, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Ryan sighed impatiently, “Why does that matter?”

“Because emotions matter, and Gavin matters,” she said insistently.

“And what about you, huh?” he returned, “How about you admit that you also like Gavin.”

“I never denied it,” she pointed out, a smirk broadening across her face. When Ryan offered no reply other than mild irritation she continued, “Look, I like both of you, it’s no secret. Which is why I figured you two would butt heads initially. I’d hoped you’d get along but seeing how close you’ve become…” she trailed off, shrugging.

He ran his fingers through her hair, using his free hand to caress her cheek. He knew what she was hoping for, and a part of him agreed. The three of them would work together beautifully. Gavin hadn’t been sly about his attraction to Ryan with his poorly hidden stares and flushed cheeks but Ryan also knew that Gavin hadn’t stopped thinking about Meg.

“Just think about it, okay?” Meg requested softly, “My probation will be over in a month and all three of us can meet somewhere hidden and talk.”

And there was their second problem. They weren’t the average pair of adults who could bumble-fuck their way through a polyamorous relationship, they were crew members with loyalties. Ryan and Gavin could be as close as they wanted but Meg’s visits would always be short and secret. And that could only end in disaster.

“Sure,” he finally agreed, seeing no other option, “I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY  
> Okay, I finally broke my writer's block and whipped this one out. Buuuut I'm off to Italy on Monday for two weeks so we'll see how much writing I'll actually manage...  
> Please bare with me, I hate when writers do this but alas, it's the writing way.  
> Also, that scene with Rye and Gav in the helicopter is my favourite thing (so if anyone can draw it I'll love you forever <3)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and are still interested in this series <3


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *angels burst from the heaven, singing songs of praises* What is this?! An update! Holy hell!

The morning sun dragged through the blinds, reminding Gavin’s ticking mind that he couldn’t hide in his room for much longer. But he was tangled up in his sheets, hair mussed up from a restless sleep and he was enjoying the sound of the city outside. He was relishing in the feeling of stretching out his legs but it also provided a good excuse to stay in his room. He didn’t think he could face Ryan. His stomach twisted with nerves just thinking about him, and the things which can change overnight.

>> The Previous Night <<

_There was a light knock on his door and before he could even grumble a reply, Meg had slipped into the room. She had a warm smile on her face but Gavin’s gaze immediately went to her slightly mussed up hair. He could picture Ryan running his fingers through it._

_“What’s that look?” she asked him, plopping down onto the bed next to him._

_His moved his gaze away from her, shrugging as he did so. “Nothing. Just looking.”_

_For a moment she said nothing. A small smile tugging on her lips as if she knew something he didn’t. She finally broke the silence by asking, “How are you adjusting?”_

_He paused. Searching for the words to explain the duel sense of loss and gain, the feeling of being in a new world whilst also feeling at home. “Fine, I guess.” She raised an eyebrow and he sighed, irritated. “I’m fine, Turney. I’ve been more worried about you than me.”_

_“You don’t have to worry about me anymore. So start thinking about yourself,” she told him kindly, her hand moving to cover his. “If this is ever too much for you, you can leave. Geoff would never hold it against you.”_

_Gavin shook his head. No. He would never leave. This life was crazy and, yes, overwhelming, but not in a bad way. “I’m not going anywhere.”_

_She smiled. He almost forgotten how nice it was to see her smile. “Good,” she hummed, “You and Ryan make a good team.”_

_“Do we?” he asked, slightly startled._

_Meg nodded, “Ryan told me you shot someone for him tonight.”_

_“I... It wasn’t- I-“ he stammered but found his words failing him. He hadn’t thought about the man slumped against the doorframe since the echo of the bullet last rang in his ears. “Shit,” he muttered, “Jesus I- I did, didn’t I?”_

_She started rubbing her thumb along his hand soothingly, “How do you feel about it?”_

_He knew what she was doing, she was making no effort to hide it. Make him talk about his feelings, why he did it, how he felt about it. Was it awful that he didn’t feel guilty in the slightest?_

_Seeming to read his mind a wry smile crawled its way up Meg’s lips, “You did it for him. So it was worth it, right?”_

_Gavin had no reply to that. She was right. But he couldn’t bring himself to nod or admit how deep his feeling for Ryan ran. What had started as a crush on an attractive man had developed to Gavin killing to save him._

_And what about Meg? He looked down at her thumb tracing circles on his hand. Yes, he still felt the same about her. All consuming emotion swirled like a storm through his mind and he couldn’t make the slightest sense of it._

_Meg’s free hand moved to cup his jaw, bringing his gaze to her. But she did not meet his eyes, her brown orbs were focussed on his lips. And before he could even let out a shuddering breath her lips were on his. Kissing back was like instinct and when she pulled away it was far too soon._

_She smiled ruefully at him, “I wish I had more time but they’re watching me. If I can’t be with you, if the three of us can never work, you two at least deserve each other.”_

_“Meg,” he murmured, too at a loss for words to say anything else._

_“Tell him how you feel, okay?” she urged him. Then she placed a final chaste kiss on his lips before slipping back out of the room and leaving Gavin to his hurricane thoughts._

>> That Morning <<

Gavin could hear Ryan in the kitchen making breakfast, the metalware clinking as the aroma of pancakes wafted through to his room. Meg’s words from the night before were replaying through his mind, just as they had been all night long. It was her one request of him. She’d risked angering her crew again and that’s what she had asked him. Her request was simply said but not so easily done.

He wasn’t one for baring his heart and neither was Ryan. A conversation between the two of them about their feelings for each other was bound to entail awkward pancake eating and flittering eye contact.

But that wasn’t the only thing Gavin needed to talk to him about.

Groaning, Gavin pushed himself off the bed and forced himself out of his bedroom before he gave himself enough time to start feeling scared again.

\----

Meg sighed as she went through the process of sharpening her knives. (It helped her clear her mind, and think). The past weeks had been rough. Whilst the crew didn’t know the extent of her dalliance with Gavin and Ryan, even working with them and working with Fake AH was bad enough to earn her several cool looks.

Burnie had been the most understanding, knowing that the risk she had taken was for Ashely. But at the same time she had failed to take out the Vagabond, she had gone against her orders and had spared his life on several occasions.

Unsurprisingly, she had the job taken away from her and she was no longer privy on Fake AH Crew dirt. Even after her probation was over (which restricted her from taking up _any_ jobs), the board still had to review if she was still trustworthy enough to remain as an influential member of Rooster Teeth or if she had to be sent over to work for Funhaus – in a whole different city.

She figured it would be the latter.

Because she _wasn’t_ trustworthy anymore. The previous night was the first day she was allowed out of constant watch of fellow Rooster Teeth members and she went straight to their enemies. Tears gathered in her eyes at the realisation. She had thought there would never be a day that someone could break her, the infamous Two-Face. But two bumbling idiots stroll into her life and in less than a year she was nearly at the end of her time as one of the top members of Rooster Teeth.

Geoff’s offer of protection and place in his crew rang in her head. Half of her was screaming at her to take it, it was an amazing offer and she’d be with Ryan and Gavin. But the other half of her could never betray her family like that. She’d rather be shipped off to a different city than ever become the enemy of the people who cared for her all these years.

She let out a hiss as she missed the blade and nicked her finger.

“Your hands are normally a lot steadier than that,” a voice commented from the doorway. Ashely was leaning on the doorframe, smiling sympathetically at her friend.

Meg ducked her head apologetically. “Got lots on my mind.”

There was a moment of silence as the blonde examined Meg before she asked, “Did you fall in love with him?”

Meg let out a nervous huff of laughter. “Which ‘him’ are you referring to?” she replied dryly.

Ashley’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “Both, apparently.”

Smiling ruefully, Meg nodded, “Yeah I fell in love with them. That’s why I couldn’t do it.”

Another pause.

“They’re going to send me to Funhaus aren’t they?” she asked softly. Ashley nodded. “How soon?”

“As soon as your probation is over.”

“So in a month’s time.” Another nod.

Meg sighed, tossing the knife down angrily as she did so. It missed the bench and clattered to the ground. All she wanted to do was curl up into bed and cry, but she had to put on a brave face. This was all her fault after all.

\----

Ryan heard his footsteps coming down the hall and his heart skipped slightly but he didn’t turn. He continued with his cooking, ignoring Edgar’s excited yapping as he flipped the pancake once before moving it to join the rest of the pancakes in a collective stack.

He saw Gavin appear out of the corner of his eye and come a halt. He shuffled his feet nervously and Ryan huffed. “You think too loud,” he told the Brit, “Just say whatever’s bugging you.”

He brought the plate of pancakes to the marble island, along with a bottle of maple syrup and indicated for Gavin to sit next to him. He hesitated, but complied.

As Ryan took up his knife and fork and begun to cut into his pancakes, Gavin sat with his hands folded in his lap, his thumbs twiddling. The older man let out a long frustrated sigh. “Out with it,” he snapped. He had thought a chatty Gavin was bad, but a nervous silent Gavin was even worse.

“It’s about Meg.”

“I figured. What did she say last night?” Ryan asked. But he already had an inkling of what the answer would be - he knew her too well. If she wasn’t shy about interrogating Ryan about his feelings for Gavin, he was sure she did the same to the Brit.

It was Gavin’s turn to look annoyed, sending Ryan a withering look. “I know you bloody know.”

His lips twitched, a smile threatening to cross his lips. “Maybe I just want to hear it out loud.”

“Stop being a mong,” Gavin snapped back stubbornly. Now Ryan couldn’t help but grin, leaning over to cup his chin and bring Gavin’s mouth to his. He tasted of toothpaste and Ryan savoured the surprised sound Gavin made when he ran his tongue along his lower lip. The Brit’s fingers knotted themselves in Ryan’s hair, as if he was afraid the older man would leave - and that was all it took for Ryan to lose it. All the weeks of growing tension, growing emotion and outright terror that he was actually beginning to care for this walking safety hazard accumulated to this one kiss.

Every word, every feeling that had been left unspoken and hidden over the past couple of weeks were passed through their lips. Every moment of desperation and ‘ _please don’t die’_ came to this kiss. And god, had Ryan needed it. He hadn’t realised before how much he needed to show Gavin how much he wanted him. He needed Gavin to know that he wanted him to stay, no matter how much they argued about hypothetical situations or how often they ended up in full on wrestling matches, he couldn’t see himself be happy without him. Or without her.

They reached the same conclusion at the same time. The kiss breaking slowly, their foreheads pressed together. Ryan’s grip on his chin still tight.

Gavin was the first one to speak. “She’s leaving. Or at least she thinks she is. She didn’t say it explicitly but it damn well sounded like a goodbye.”

Ryan made a noise of agreement, placing one quick kiss before letting go of his chin so that they could return to their breakfast. For an average person, the switch of moods from heated make out to cool business would be a serious mind fuck. But that’s just how it ran in the criminal world, there wasn’t time for any in-betweens.

“So you reckon the crew is making her leave town?” Ryan asked as Gavin began to dig into his pancakes. He nodded. “So how do we stop them?”

Gavin grimaced, “D’you really think Meg would be okay with us doing in her crew?” At Ryan’s furrowed eyebrows the Brit laughed, “I have an idea but I don’t think you’ll like it. It’s a peaceful method.”

“Doesn’t make for a very good story,” he grumbled.

Gavin’s eyes lit up, catching Ryan’s attention. Whilst most of the time Gavin acted like a complete idiot, he was bright. And whenever Gavin had a good idea or a good plan his eyes lit up with devious fire and it had been in moments like these that Ryan had started to fall for him.

“I’m pretty sure a peace-treaty between Fake AH and Rooster Teeth would make a good story,” Gavin mused.

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Why not?!” he squawked.

“Burns and Geoff have been at odds for over a decade,” Ryan told him firmly, “A skinny Brit isn’t going to change that.”

“ _I’m_ not changing anything, it’s Meg which has changed things,” Gavin returned, “We all know that Two-Face has a special place in Burns’ heart. The fact she’s only getting moved for what she did shows that she has protection and I very much doubt he’s happy with the fact that he’s going to have to move her. Then there’s Geoff who, whilst he’s been trying to hide it, has been worried about her and would happily take her on in Fake AH – even though we all know she wouldn’t. Geoff also knows how much she means to _us_.  
Family goes a long way in these crews and Meg has proven her place in both of them. She’s also proven that the two crews _can_ work together and when they do, the LSPD doesn’t stand a chance. Which brings me on to my second point – mutual enemies. The police have managed to anger both us **and** Rooster Teeth. Separately, we don’t have the manpower to enact real revenge, but together we could whip control out from under them.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow, “Hm. You’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

Gavin shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.” He set down his knife and fork. “D’you think it could work?”

“It’s not exactly what we would normally go with, but I guess that’s the beauty of you, Gav. You don’t exactly fall into the realm of normal-“

“Oi!”

“ _But_ ,” he continued, “I think it could work.”

\----

“Absolutely fucking not,” Geoff snapped angrily at Gavin and Ryan.

“But-“ Gavin tried to say.

“Jack,” Geoff barked, cutting Gavin off and turning to the red-head who was lounging in the corner, “tell them it’s not happening.”

She sighed. “I don’t see why not. You and Burnie used to be friends. You’re just enemies out of convenience, and it’s not even convenient anymore”

Geoff sent her a betrayed look but she just shrugged, nonplussed. “Fuck. Michael get me a drink.” Michael chuckled and sent his boss a mock-salute before slipping out of the room.

“It would be beneficial for both us _and_ Rooster Teeth,” Ray pointed out, sitting beside Jack as he polished his sniper. Michael re-entering the room from his left.

Geoff eagerly grabbed the drink Michael handed him, throwing his head back and downing it.

“Look,” Ryan began, “we all thought wasn’t long before it became a matter of us or them. Which would be a pretty grim reality to live with. But this way we become stronger and there’s no need for useless bloodshed.”

“Not to mention,” Michael added, “as skilled as we are as a group, they vastly outnumber us. We’d be slaughtered.”

“Then _why_ would Rooster Teeth agree to a partnership?” Geoff demanded.

“Several reasons,” Gavin replied calmly, “Firstly, Jinx was just in critical condition, they don’t want to risk that for any other members. Then, it would mean they would have the power to get revenge on the LSPD. And finally, it would mean they get to keep one of their most beloved and powerful members.”  

“Meg.” Geoff supplied, “You’re willing to risk my dignity for her.”

“What dignity?” Gavin retorted.

Geoff’s lips twitched and there was a long silence.

 “Fine.” There was a breath of relief through the room. “But _you’re_ making the case to Rooster Teeth. I’ll sit and watch but your pretty asses can go and make a fool of yourselves.”

\----

When they returned to the apartment that evening Ryan spared no time in pinning Gavin up against a wall, cupping his face in his hands and swallowing the startled squawk he let out. He grinned. Kissing Gavin was all so familiar yet tantalisingly new. When they paused for air Gavin barely had the time to ask, “What the bloody hell was that for?” before Ryan had captures his lips in another hungry kiss. After that Gavin stopped asking questions.

He palmed Gavin through his jeans and revelled in the moan that came from the Brit. He broke the kiss, moving to run his lips down his neck. Biting and sucking until dark marks bloomed on his neck, Gavin gasping as Ryan’s hands unclasped his belt, tossed it to the side and begun to unzip his jeans. Gavin squirmed as Ryan dropped to his knees, pushing down the Brit’s jeans as he did. Mouthing at his erection through his boxers, earning him a delicious sound from Gavin. He looked up at his new lover and smirked, reddened lips and tousled hair – it was mesmerising.

He quickly rid Gavin of his boxers but spent time kissing around his straining cock. Gavin let out a noise of irritation but it quickly morphed into a moan as Ryan took his head into his mouth. Gavin’s finger’s tangled into Ryan’s hair and he let out a breathy sigh as he slid further into Ryan’s mouth. The older man looked up at him again, his blue eyes watching him as he took more and more.

“F-fuck,” Gavin groaned.

It was a picture of perfection. A moan was drawn out of his throat as Ryan started to play with his balls at the same time, swirling his tongue around before sliding down on Gavin again.

“R-Rye,” he gasped, “I’m going to-!” He let out a cry of pleasure, spurting down Ryan’s throat as he came. When Ryan had swallowed and lapped the last of Gavin’s cum, he leaned back on his heels, allowing Gavin’s weak knees to crumple as he slid down the wall. A lazy smile stretched across his face as Ryan leaned in for a long kiss.

“We’ll leave the main event til’ we have Meg with us?” Ryan proposed, moving to kiss and suck his earlobe. Gavin hummed in agreement and Ryan pressed a kiss on his forehead. “Come one, let’s order takeout.”

“Is that your way of celebrating a successful plan?” Gavin teased.

“Firstly, the plan isn’t a success yet. And secondly, that blow job was reward enough,” he returned, winking at Gavin and a blush spread across his cheeks. Ryan chuckled deeply, pushing himself to his feet. “I’m feeling Chinese, what about you?”

“I’m not fussed.”

“Chinese it is!”

\----

Ryan was walking Edgar around a week later when a shiver passed through him, the familiar feeling of being watched washed over him. He came to a halt, turning to see a small blonde leaning up against the side of a bakery, watching him.

She smiled upon being found out and said, “Cute dog you’ve got there. What’s the breed?”

“He’s a cocker spaniel,” he told her, thinking idly of the knife in his back pocket.

“I’m sure Meg adored him,” she replied easily. Whilst the use of Meg’s name surprised him, he kept a casual stance. He refused to be intimidated.

“I assume you’re Jinx,” he drawled. She didn’t look like much of fighter, but then neither did Meg. It was part of why they were so good at stealth. “You look like you’ve recovered.”

She nodded, “Good to finally meet in person, Vagabond – and I’m a quick healer.”

“A bit public don’t you think?”

“We’ve got the road closed off, said it was a gas leak and all that. We should be fine,” she said with a shrug.

“No witnesses around and you’ve got me surrounded,” he noted, “Interesting.”

She let out a laugh, “We’re not here to hurt you. You just need to tell us why you’ve been trying to contact us.”

A smile bloomed on Ryan’s face and he found himself slipping into character, “Excellent! You got our messages. We were getting worried we weren’t being obvious enough. Which one really did it for you? Was it the cop? Please tell me it was the dead cop – that one was my favourite.”

An amused expression crossed her face, “Yes, I quite enjoyed the cop. Very nice of you to leave such a lovely little message; ‘To Rooster Teeth, love the Vagabond’. Honestly, the reporters ate it up.”

He shrugged, “I love theatre.”

“So, what is so important that it couldn’t wait?”

“We want to strike a deal.”

“We’re not giving you Meg,” she said firmly.

It was Ryan’s turn to laugh, “Like she would ever leave you. Kingpin already offered her a job with us but she wouldn’t take it.” Jinx’s jaw clenched and Ryan realised he let information slip that Meg hadn’t mentioned. “But that shouldn’t be a problem for much longer. Well, it won’t be if you take our deal.”

“What’s the deal?” she snapped impatiently

“A partnership for the ages,” Ryan drawled and grinned when he saw her eyes widen. “Just imagine it! Rooster Teeth and Fake AH joining to create a criminal power so big we’ll have this city _on its knees_.”

“I-I…” she stammered.

“I think you should go talk to your boss about this,” Ryan told her, enjoying the effect he had, “Then we can set up a meeting. But if you’d excuse me, I should get back to walking my dog before he gets too overexcited.” He smiled at her, turned back to Edgar and carried on down the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait. What I was supposed to do was finished the bloody fic before I post any chapters but then I kept teasing about it and y'all got excited so I got excited and started throwing chapters at you. And I THOUGHT I was nearly done but then I realised it was going to be 10K longer than expected. Then suddenly I posted chapter 5 and I didn't have any more words for you and then I fucked off to Italy for 2 weeks. 
> 
> So.. yeah. I'm sorry! But I hope you liked the chapter!


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait! If you follow me on tumblr (queenmeg) you'll know that I had laptop issues which left me without half of this chapter for a month. But I got it back yesterday and finished it up sharpish! Hope you enjoy <3

When Rooster Teeth finally responded they only sent an address. No indication of any positive reception but Ryan was well versed in the criminal world to know what it meant. They were interested. Which was a hell of a lot better than Rooster Teeth taking it as a sign of weakness and striking – a possibility Ryan didn’t mention to Gavin.

When Geoff, Gavin and Ryan arrived at the address it looked like a dump. Geoff scowled and muttered about his thousand dollar suit getting dirty whilst Gavin shrugged and ploughed ahead.

\----

Something was happening, something big. The office was alight with the buzz of whispers and Meg continually saw the flash of people checking their phones for messages. She clenched her jaw. Something was happening _right now_ and she **hated** not being privy to it. Burnie, Ashley and some of their top employees were out of the office for the day – a group Meg was normally part of it – leaving the place somewhat more chaotic than usual.

She dared not ask what was going on because if she hadn't been told there was a reason – it involved Fake AH. Her hands twitched, eyeing Ashley's discarded key-card which would give her access to knowing what the fuck was happening. If she used it and got caught, that would be it. Burnie wouldn't be able to pull any strings – there would be no FunHaus, no loopholes, just exile.

And if things were coming to a head with Rooster Teeth and Fake AH, did she really want to know? Would she want to put herself in the position of choosing between her family and her lovers?

\----

They were waiting inside, as expected.

"Weapons out and on the floor," a woman drawled lazily, waving some guards over to the three of them to pat them down. As Ryan handed the bodyguards some explosives he examined his surroundings. It was an ordinary, shitty abandoned building which Ryan had seen plenty of but placed in the middle was a long table, suitable for a meeting room in an office. At the head of the table sat Burnie Burns, Jinx next to him and a few faces Ryan vaguely recognised as the Live Action Team.

"We came here on good terms," Geoff growled, agitated at the hands grabbing at his flare gun, "No need to harass us."

"It would be an insult not to pat you down, Kingpin," Jinx said with a cool smile, "You're known for your tricks."

"No tricks," Geoff replied moving to sit at the opposite end of the table, "just looking to satisfy a joint interest. So please, call me Geoff." He turned to Ryan and Gavin, "Why don't you introduce yourself, boys."

"Gavin," the Brit said, moving to sit down beside Geoff. "But everyone knows that."

All eyes turned to Ryan. They all knew who he was, the infamous masked Vagabond who was known for being untraceable. If Geoff offered Ryan's real name, even his forename, it would prove to Rooster Teeth that they meant what they said and that they were confident they would get it. Ryan moved to sit next at Geoff's other side, shooting his boss a look for forcing him to compromise his identity but he supposed it would've been revealed to them sooner or later. (He just would've preferred later.)

"Ryan," he finally said. He saw Geoff relax a little in his seat whereas everyone else seemed to perk up as if they hadn't expected him to say a word. "A pleasure, I'm sure."

Burns' lips twitched, examining the three men before them before saying, "So you want Rooster Teeth to form a partnership with Rooster Teeth?"

Geoff sat back in his seat and nodded his head to Gavin.

"I uh, yeah," Gavin stumbled over his words, "we think it would be beneficial to everyone."

"Everyone? Or just Meg?" Jinx replied smoothly. No beating around the bush then.

Gavin ducked his head, a familiar blush rising to his cheeks. Ryan, hoping to distract from Gavin's embarrassment said, "Do you honestly think Geoff would have agreed to this meeting had it not been for the benefit of Fake AH?"

"Well he did offer her a job," Burns pointed out, a cold smile directed at his former friend.

Ryan gave a shrug, "Can you blame him? She's remarkable. Anyone would want her, especially when the other option would be to snuff her out. Besides, Fake AH is a small crew and hasn't survived for this long by making rash decisions. We think out all of our moves meticulously because we can't afford to be sloppy. So if Geoff's agreed to this, it's because he thinks it's the best move for the survival of the crew."

"We wouldn't forfeit our independence for anything less," Gavin added.

Jinx raised an eyebrow, and her partner said, "So what do you want out of a partnership with us?"

"In terms of functionality there wouldn't be much difference to what we have now. Our setups will remain moderately the same, there's no need to try and enforce each other's structures on each other. But there will be a sharing of resources and intelligence and we'd be able to have our members work together on high profile jobs," Ryan explained.

"So you gain more resources and men and don't have to spend any time or effort worrying about us," Gavin told them, "Plus-" he paused, "-I believe it would save you degree of trouble if any rumours were to get out that members of Rooster Teeth have been going behind your back to work with Fake AH."

And with that all the oxygen left the room. Ryan noticed Geoff inhale sharply but apart from that they didn't make a move. They let Gavin's implication settle in everyone's minds, in the perfect silence. At least it was silent enough that they would be able to hear someone pulling out a gun.

Finally, the silence was broken. Burns let out a hearty laugh before saying, "Yes, we agree. Of course we fucking agree. We're not idiots."

Gavin immediately exhaled, a ghost of a smile breaking across his face and Geoff shook his head, chuckling to himself. Ryan allowed himself to relax in his chair, the rush of victory swelling in his chest. They'd done it. And Meg was staying.

He could tell Gavin was thinking the same thing because when Geoff stood up to go shake Burns' hand, the Brit all but leapt into Ryan's arms. Chuckling lowly, Ryan ruffled his feathery hair as the people around them tittered with amusement. "You still have a few things to learn about professionalism, Gav."

He waved Ryan's comment off, "Who gives a damn about all that toss? We've got a red-head to call!"

\----

"That's _it_ , Turney," a guard snarled, waving Ashely's key-card in her face, "You think just because you've been here for years that you can do whatever the fuck you want?"

Meg glared up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Ashley forgot her key-card, and she asked me to send some files over."

The guard laughed sharply, "That shit might have flown before, but now you've shown your true colours. Fucking green and black blood running out of you."

A door slammed open to their left. "Funny, I quite like that colour combination."

"Mr Burns," the guard said, snapping to attention, "I found her with Jinx's key-card trying to access out of bounds data."

Burnie tilted his head, looking with mild curiosity between the guard and Meg. "I was under the impression that Meg was a higher rank than you."

"I-I but she was demoted, sir-"

"A rouse, I'm afraid. Meg was helping us orchestrate the partnership between Fake AH and we couldn't allow rumour to get out until the deal was sealed," Burnie explained lazily and Meg was, as ever, impressed with his ability to lie so easily. As the guard made an impression of a fish Burnie said, "You're dismissed. I need a word with Meg."

Once the guard was long gone Meg turned and raised her eyebrows at Burnie, "What was that save for? I was sure I was done."

A grin crawled up his face, "How would you like to be promoted?"

"Promoted?" she repeated. "Is this about what happened today?"

"What do you know about what happened today?"

She ducked her head, "Only that you were meeting three Fake AH Crew members, and senior RT members were pretty excited."

He chuckled, "It's not as grim as your imagination might have made it out to be. We signed an agreement to become partners with Fake AH."

Meg's mouth fell open. "You're shitting me."

He shook his head, "All devised by their budding new recruit – perhaps you've heard of him."

"Gavin," she whispered with a smile on her face.

Burnie nodded, "Geoff was there on principle but The Vagabond did a good bit of the persuasive talking."

"I... I can't believe it so I can stay in Los Santos?" Nod. "And I can see them, like I can talk to them and be with them and that's okay? We're not going to kill them?"

He let out a loud laugh, "Yes, Meg. We're not going to kill them. And we're telling Rooster Teeth members exactly what I told that guard. Your position will be reinstated and you'll be doing most of the colab work with Fake AH – Geoff's request."

The redhead let out a squeal, jumping up and flying into Burnie's arms, "Thank you so much!"

"It's not me you need to thank, Meg."

\----

[](http://www.iphonefaketext.com/screens/NDgwNzA.jpg)   


\----

When the door swung open that evening Meg was greeted by green eyes and goofy grin. Before Gavin could even get a word out she had thrown herself into his arms, peppering him with happy kisses as she did so.

“Burnie told me it was your idea,” she gushed, cupping his face as she stood on her tip-toes to let their lips meet in a soft kiss.

“Couldn’t have done it without, Ryan,” the Brit said, quickly dismissing her praise and looking over his shoulder at the tall blonde who was watching the scene with a warm gaze.

“Come over here,” Meg ordered playfully.

“Aye, aye, m’lady,” he complied, moving to join his lovers in a group hug. She took her free hand to run her fingers through Ryan’s hair, smiling fondly as she did so.

“It’s getting long,” she observed, “but I like it. The man bun is in right now,” she told him with a wink. He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“We should get going,” he said, “best not to keep the staff waiting.”

Gavin and Meg raised their eyebrows, exchanging intrigued looks. “Staff, eh?” Gavin inquired as they made their way to the lift down to the garage. Ryan merely shot them a mischievous grin.

They traveled there in Ryan's most expensive sports car, the one he saved for special occasions and refused to use in heists. He sat in the driver's seat up front but insisted that Gavin and Meg sit in the back and open up the bottle of champagne he'd placed. They squealed and messed around behind him as he drove just over the speed limit, ignoring the wide-eyed gazes of the pedestrians they passed.

When the car slowed to a halt, Meg raised her eyebrows. "You brought us back to this dump?" she teased, nodded her head in the the direction of the all-too-familiar bar she'd spent many night-shifts working at.

He grinned at her through the rear-view mirror, "I think you'll like what I've done to the place."

"Exciting," Gavin said, waggling his eyebrows at Meg as Ryan got out of the car to open the door for his partners.

Ryan was right – when he opened the door Meg wasn't greeted by the familiar grime and smell of stale beer but to polished wood, exposed brick and a large dinner table with a bouquet of roses in the middle.

As they gushed over the delicate detail, Gavin turned to Ryan who was watching them (slightly nervously) and asked, "Is this why you were texting frantically all afternoon?" The blond nodded. "And here I thought you were having trouble booking a table!"

"It's amazing, Rye," Meg told him, smiling broadly.

Relaxing, Ryan grinned and said, "Shall we eat?"

"Yes! I'm bloody starving," Gavin replied, quickly finding himself a seat.

Once they were all settled a server came out and took their orders, Meg sending Ryan a look which roughly translated to, ' _How the hell did you find these people?'_

"Geoff has his fingers in all of the five star restaurants in Los Santos," Ryan told her, taking a bottle of wine out of the ice bucket beside the table and pouring the two of them a glass.

Gavin grinned taking his glass and raising it. "To new partnerships," he toasted with a wink.

\----

When they had completely devoured their meals, Meg leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms over head and sighing contently, "That was delicious."

"Yeah, top," Gavin agreed, smiling across at Ryan.

"Don't get too comfy," he told them, "There's more yet to come."

"More?! Bloody hell, Ryan – what kind of magic did you use to find the time to do this?" Gavin demanded teasingly. Ryan merely shrugged and led them out of the bar and along a dusty path until they reached a mound of rocks, the top of which had been smoothed over time by the elements.

"You two used to meet at the beach didn't you?" he asked them, sitting himself on the rocks and beckoning them to join him. They smiled and nodded, joining him on either side, tangling their hands together as they looked across to where the moon hung in the sky, casting ripples of silver light across the dark water, sparkling stars flickered in the background.

Meg felt emotion swell in her chest as she moved her gaze away from the landscape and towards her two partners. Serenity settled. “I still can’t believe it all worked out,” she told them, giving Ryan’s hand a squeeze.

Gavin sighed happily and Ryan said, “I know. For a moment there it just seemed impossible.”

“And now we’ve got all the time in the world,” Gavin grinned, excitement already bubbling as he thought of the life they were just about to embark on together.

“Speaking of which,” Ryan drawled, “I took the liberty of telling our respective bosses that we would be taking a month off.”

“A month?!” Gavin gawked.

“I mean, if you’re really that worried about missing out on all that paperwork RT and Fake AH will be doing, then Meg and I can take our private cruise alone,” Ryan replied, shrugging.

“I’m sorry – _private cruise_?” Meg repeated, her voice rising in pitch.

He sent them a sidewise smirk, “There might have been other reasons why I was texting so frantically than just setting up dinner.”

“Jesus, Ryan!” Gavin cried, “you should’ve been a bloody wedding planner or a genie in a lamp!”

Ryan chuckled at his partner’s identical looks of pure shock. “D’you wanna see the boat?”

“Fuck yes!” they chorused.

“Well that’s fortunate,” he chirped, “because I had it pulled up to a dock not far from here.”

Whilst they made their way up there, Ryan was pretty sure he heard Gavin mutter, “Bloody magician,” to Meg. He simply grinned to himself.

\----

It was a beautiful boat, with polished wooden floors and a large pool with a slide. Ryan had to all but hold Gavin back to stop him launching himself into the pool before he got the chance to take them to their room.  Fitted with an aquarium, hot tub and a closet big enough you could live in, Gavin and Meg were more than impressed. She ran her fingers over the numerous clothing items Ryan had purchased for her and turned to raise her eyebrows at him.

“Something tells me you were planning on leaving tonight.”

He ducked his head and shrugged. “I mean… I thought it would be pretty romantic but if there’s anything you wanted to grab we can! Edgar’s already at Michael and Lindsay’s so…”

She allowed a grin to break through, “I think I’d quite like a good mid-night escape. Adds an element of drama, don’t you think, Gav?”

The Brit nodded eagerly, wrapping his long arms around the older man, “It’s lush, Rye. You’re amazing.” He pressed a kiss on his neck.

Then Meg was at his lips, kissing him slowly as he drew his arm around her waist to bring her closer. As Gavin’s teeth caught the skin on Ryan’s neck, he audibly groaned into her mouth, allowing her tongue to sweep along his lower lip. As the kisses became more eager he found himself becoming impatient, moving his hands from her waist to cup her breasts, slipping a finger under to run across her nipple. She purred at the action, nipping his lip with her teeth as Gavin grinded into him from behind, his hands going under Ryan’s shirt and splaying across his back.

With a growl, Ryan pulled Meg’s dress up and over her head, leaving in her an enticing pair of matching underwear. He dragged her back for a brief but rough kiss before pulling away again. He turned to Gavin, looking over his buttoned-up shirt and erection straining through his trousers. “Clothes off, now,” he ordered before pulling off his own shirt and leading them over to the bed.

Meg was the first to land on its surface, lounging on the excessive array of pillows as she gazed up at the two men staring at her hungrily. Ryan, annoyed with Gavin’s short attention span (he’d only managed to shuffle out of his trousers), grabbed the Brit and latched onto his neck. Sucking red marks into his neck and soothing it with the lap of his tongue. As Gavin whined, Ryan undid his shirt and pushed it off his slender shoulders, moving his harsh kisses down to his collarbones.

From the bed, Meg let out an impatient sound. “You’re letting the bed get cold,” she admonished, patting the silk sheets beside her. Ryan removed himself from Gavin with a pop and sent Meg a filthy look, a grin stretching across his reddened lips.

“My apologies,” he murmured, before pushing Gavin onto the bed. Eagerly, the Brit crawled up to her, kissing her ankles and moving up her legs, placing light fluttering kisses as she smiled down at him. When he reached her inner thighs she inhaled sharply as his teeth skimmed the skin. Behind him, Ryan placed kisses along Gavin’s back, rocking his hips into Gavin’s ass so that he could feel how hard Ryan had become. Meg whimpered at sight of Ryan leaning over to slip his hand into Gavin’s boxers whilst Gavin pulled down her underwear and began to eat her out. His pace was tantalisingly slow but as Ryan’s ministrations became more vigorous, Gavin began to groan into her pussy as he was brought to the edge and her legs began to shake. They came at the same time, letting out twin sounds of ecstasy.

When Gavin was spent he moved to kiss her slowly on the lips before rolling over and letting Ryan at her mouth. Her fingers tangled weakly in his hair as he grounded his still clothed erection against her. Becoming irritated with the barriers still between them, he removed her bra and his underwear with urgency – tossing them in Gavin’s direction. It was not long after that until Ryan was pushing inside of her, Meg letting out a high-pitched moan as he stretched her open. He swallowed her cries with a breathy kiss, setting a demanding rhythm that Meg was more than happy to meet. Soon she was coming again as he spilled inside of her, placing open-mouthed kisses on her neck and then on Gavin’s lips as he leaned over towards them.

Once Ryan recovered, he pulled out of her, tuning to land on the other side of her. Gavin grabbed the sheets which had been kicked to the end of the bed and pulled it over the three of them. As Meg snuggled up against Ryan, Gavin curled around her back, slinging his arm across her to land on Ryan’s chest. It didn’t take long for the three of them to drift into an easy sleep.

\----

They took off in the early morning, having slept through the night and consequently forgetting their plans of a romantic mid-night escape. As Los Santos disappeared into the morning mist, Meg leant against the railings on the upper deck, a shawl wrapped around the t-shirt and shorts she’d put tiredly. The sky was pastel pink smudged with the orange tinge of the rising sun, which cast rays of honey sunlight onto her. Gavin and Ryan were still below deck, tangled up in the bedsheets playing Tower Fall but she had taken a stroll upstairs, having wanted to feel the cool air on her skin to remind her that yes, this was all real.

Falling for the pair of them had happened in a flash, it had fallen apart just as quickly and it had been put back together in the blink of an eye. If you had told Meg a few months ago that Rooster Teeth and Fake AH had become partners she would’ve laughed you out of the room. And even standing on that boat with Gavin and Ryan’s smell on her skin, she hardly believed it.

She ran her fingers through her hair, tangling in the messy curls which had remained. As a cool breeze swept through the air, goosebumps washed across her skin and she shivered.

“You want to some breakfast?” a voice asked from behind her. She turned and smiled at Gavin who stood at the door closest to her.

“I’d love some.”

\----

In the following months the partnership between Rooster Teeth and Fake AH blossomed. They worked together better than anyone expected, growing rapidly in strength, territory and numbers as other mob bosses bent to their will and the LSPD were left chasing after their own tails.

As Chief Coordinator of the partnership, Meg found herself very busy in those months as she figured out the logistics which hadn’t been ironed out in initial meetings. However, once things started running smoothly she had the time to join Fake AH on heists, thoroughly enjoying their knack of dressing up for them. Newspapers were flooded with their monikers, as the general public slowly started to figure out what had happened – but it was too late. Los Santos was in their hands now and worked for them like a well-oiled machine.

Gavin, Meg and Ryan soon became known as The Fates, conducting their own wild heists which left the city recovering for weeks afterwards. And maybe one day they would settle down, in a large house along the beach, spending lazy mornings on the porch sipping coffee – but for now, they were exactly where they wanted to be.

_Fin_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it! The end! I hope you've enjoyed this wild ride, I loved writing this fic so much. 
> 
> But I've already started the beginning of a new fic which is (of course) a GTA AU but this time only Turnwood with lots of Dark!Meg, so watch this space!
> 
> Thank you for the support <3


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